Treating a shin splint...

[Edge 0]

I recently have gotten a shin splint in my right shin from training and playing tennis(i'm guessing).

It's gotten to the point where it is near impossible for me to skate hard or get quick running starts in my skating stride. Is there anything i can do to ease the pain so I can skate easier? Season's coming up soon and I need this to stop by then.

Thanks

[SB39 2]

take a piece of trainer's foam and tape it around your upper ankle- it will help keep the tendon from separating any further. Strengthen your calves and the shin muscle, and to help the actual shin splint, crumple up newspaper with your toes. Don't do any running for a week or so

[Edge 0]

upper ankle? It seems to be hurting right below my knee-mid shin. What about skating? Would that further injure it?

[EBondo 232]

upper ankle? It seems to be hurting right below my knee-mid shin. What about skating? Would that further injure it?

My shin splints were right where you were. I could actually go on with doing what I was doing for a couple days, and then it got too painful. I rested a few days, don't do much running and physical activity, if any at all, and was fine for the next time I skated

[Edge 0]

Yeah exactly, I skated in a camp for the last two days and I could handle it but today we did some heavy duty crossover stuff, and I just couldn't handle it. It felt like a broken bone. Man, i hate this thing though.

[EBondo 232]

Yeah, some points it felt worse then my pain when i dislocated my knee, and that damn knee still isnt a hundred percent and itll be 6 months this saturday

[Jim A 4]

I thought along with rest, ice, advil,etc that stretching was a big part of treting shin splints..

what has helped some people who i have feed back from is that they do some stretches..light dynamic type warmup..skate..then stretch again...i'm sure if you google you can find some info on this

[Edge 0]

yeah the shin splint isn't from hockey...probably tennis or plyometric training, etc. I try to stretch as much as possible, but the shin is a difficult place to stretch. Thanks for the help guys.

[Lilleman 0]

re Edge

I was diagnosed with Shin Splints back in 1980. The problem was causing so much problem/pain that it was decided that surgery was needed, to cut the fascia open. Prior to that extensive tests was made to ensure it was shin splints and not microscopic fractures/"exhaust fractures" in the tibia that I suffered from. Got special made orto. inserts for my running shoes and daily wears as well that. That combined with long time rest (weeks/months IIRC) didn't help at all. Of course I tried all possible solutions like bandaging, heat treatment etc etc to no avail. Anyway a few weeks prior surgery I had the chance to speak with Anders Gärderud, Olympic Gold medalist and world record holder, and asked him who they could train miles upon miles on a daily basis, running on asphalt. The answer was technique. Got referred to the national teams technical advisor/coach and it turned out that my running tech was very wrong/destructive plus I was to stiff, a result from all the years of hockey. Anyway I cancelled the operation and changed my running technique and haven't had any problems since then, despite that I only run on paved roads.

So is the above the solution/path you should seek? I dont' know, but what I'm firmly certain about is that stretching won't make the problem go away, because if it's Shin Splints you really suffer from, I can't see how stretching will take away the pressure of the fascia, which is the main goal when it come's to Shin Splints. Reduced pressure and the inflammation will eventually disappear. Apply the same amount of pressure again and your problem is back. Plus I gather, that your problems are probably caused by tennis, which is very different from long distance running.

No, my best advice is too seek out a good ortho. surgeon ASAP, preferably with experience from treating tennis players, to get a proper diagnosis. Maybe you suffer from some sort of orthopaedic "anomaly" like the left leg is shorter than the right etc etc. That's the best advice I can offer you, since when it comes to shin splints they are so many factors concerned it's problem for professionals to tackle, ie. what caused my problems and the successful solutions applied in my case, won't necesseray be of benefit to you. On the contrary, they could be really counter productive.

As final word of advice, I would like to repeat myself. Go and see an ortho. surgeon NOW becuase if you ignore this problem, if will mess with you for a long time, trust me on that. Also forget about stretching and other "wonder cures" until you seen that doc of yours.

Good luck

Lilleman

[hockechamp14 0]

I found that after I stopped growing and stregnthened the front of my shins, I no longer had any problems whatsoever with shinsplints.

[Edge 0]

Lilleman, thanks for putting in that time for that post, it was really helpful.

I'll try to do all of that and see if it helps.

[TCsnipes9 0]

Yeah, some points it felt worse then my pain when i dislocated my knee, and that damn knee still isnt a hundred percent and itll be 6 months this saturday

same with the dis-location man. i think im going on 7 now and i still feel it pull out sometimes.

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

I have shin splint right now and it is awful. I can play hockey but it hurts me a lot when I do Sprint/plyometric training.

I don't what I can do to stop the pain.

[SB39 2]

Try running barefoot a bit to figure out proper form, since your form naturally corrects when your barefoot; you run only on the balls of your feet, no heel-to-toe action, and your posture is more forward and aggressive. taping your upper ankle is where trainers have always taped me for shinsplints. I would also recommend taping both upper ankles with the foam, since just taping one could lead to an imbalance and slow recovery time by giving you a worse other shinsplint.

[Lilleman 0]

"I don't what I can do to stop the pain"

I thought I was pretty clear in my reply to Edge, as to what to do. What part of "get an appointment with a specialist ASAP" is so difficult to understand? And if you think it's awful now, wait until the condition has become cronic. IOW, ignore the problem now, and it's gonna fuck with you for years to come, if you pardon my French.

Like I mentioned in my initial reply, this problem with shin splints/comp. syndroms/stress fractures are way to complex, with too many factors involved, to get a valid answer from the Internet.

Re sb39

And exactly how, will running on the balls of your feet, reduce the strain of the fascia?

[Edge 0]

Just thought i'd update you guys...

well it's almost all better now, it's gone from pain when i walk to only when I bend my knees and now it only hurts on the bone right under the knee cap. Could this possibly be osgood schlatters? I'm also starting to develop some pain on my other leg in the same spot... :o

[Lilleman 0]

... it's gone from pain when i walk to only when I bend my knees and now it only hurts on the bone right under the knee cap. Could this possibly be osgood schlatters? ....

Well, in your position there's only two good excuses for not seeing a doctor, and that's you can't either afford it and/or have delevoped some phobia towards "hospital environments". Well, it's your health and future hockey career, and not mine after all.

And if you already have seen an ortho. surgeon and it didn't work out well, for one reason or the other, get a second opinion

[Edge 0]

I have an appointment to see an ortho pretty soon so I will see what he says when the time comes.

thanks again.