REWARD: Posterior (interior) shin splints so bad I can barely walk

Go get a bone scan to detect damage and density. "Shin splints" don't last a year or come back immediately after 10 weeks off. Serious stress fractures might.

Aside from a proper diagnosis, your best bet is cross training to supplement as much running as you can do pain free. Cross train in a non-weight bearing manner- swimming & pool running would be best, or at least non-impact like elliptical or biking.

Go find out what's really wrong with you.

thanks man, the problem is i have had x-rays and bone scans before and they have been pretty inconclusive. They generally say it looks like i had a stress reaction/fracture there before and there's a lot of scar tissue and they can't quite get a good picture of whats going on. any more tips though? im desperate, id honestly appreciate anything at this point

so get an MRI then. Bone scans are outdated.

Start by doing ankle flexation exercises to stengthen the muscles in your legs. Draw the ABC's with your toes in order to do this. The other main issue here could be your form. Heel striking tends to put a lot of pressure on the shin bones and muscles and could be causing your problem. To fix this begin by running a mile at the end of your run barefoot on the grass while focusing on landing on the midfoot/forefoot of your foot. Make sure you are landing under your center of gravity and not in front of your center of gravity. This will feel weird at first but once you get used to it you will be able to run like that all the time. Also take calcium supplements. A combination of all these things is your best chance at fixing your problem

thanks man i appreciate it. i am actually definitely going to do those thing because i am realizing now that when i tried running barefoot or in minimalist shoes for injury prevention, i tended to overstride and that really hurt me. any shoe suggestions? I do tend to pronate, but I only started having shin problems when i switched to stability shoes (brooks adreniline) last summer. now this summer its flared up again but im in light neutral shoes, nike lunaracers. thanks for the help

Definitely focus on fixing your form. Apart from that, try toe taps. If you're doing them correctly, you should feel a dull burn and they should feel uncomfortable. Make sure your knees are 90 degrees.

thanks, ill try those. and any suggestions for how to fix pronation?

Honestly the shoes themselves don't matter as much as your form. However more neutral shoes definitely make it easier to run on your forefoot. I used to run in the adrenaline before i changed my form and i hated them. Since you do get injured often I would still recommend a shoe with a decent amount of cushioning just much less structure because structure is useless if your form is correct. I personally run in the lunaracer and similar shoes to that but for you I would recommend something more like the Nike zoom elite which is more of a middle ground.

Also for ideas on what good form looks like look at this video as you can see he lands underneath his body propelling himself forward. Since he is landing underneath himself landing on his midfoot/forefoot comes much more naturally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUJhnEmx8Do

also pronation should disappear naturally for the most part when you are landing farther up on your foot because there will be less contact time between your foot and the ground.

helppleasewithspranklesontop wrote:

thanks, ill try those. and any suggestions for how to fix pronation?

land with your big toe pointing upwards. practice this while standing up to see what i mean, it makes your foot lie more neutral if you are over-pronating.

Your best bet to fix pronation is to address foot and glute strength. Make sure your gluteus medius is strong and can fire. Do you have flat feet or strong arches?

Is your TFL really tight? Releasing that can reduce internal rotation of the femur hence slowing pronation in support phase. This goes hand in hand w Strengthening of g med.

Try these diagnostics to get a better idea of what is happening in the mayofascial chains.

http://www.lynosport.co.za/the-bunkie-test/

Another good article is here:

http://www.lynosport.co.za/shin-splints-eliminate-the-cause/

While its true that strengthening the gastroc could help the shin, I think it's not advisable to start running on the forefoot. In my experience this only leads to other types of injuries. Instead focus on rolling through the foot quickly and smoothly and lightly, and make sure you push from the hip and use the glute, rather than from the lower leg with a corresponding over lift with the hip flexor. Probably glute strength will be the biggest factor in getting this whole thing headed in the right direction.

This stretch,done barefoot, fixed my shin issues.

I've had the same issue and tried those stretches with little success. You would be better off taking more time off. I know you don't want to bc it's your last year of running but you kind of have to

Agree about running in neutral shoes, also shoes w/less heel drop. Switching from traditional trainers to racing flats resolved a bunch of problems for me. An excercise that eased the symptoms was to elevate the leg (while sitting) and slowly rotate my foot, in one direction and then another.

Have you consulted a medical professional or do you rely on message boards for diagnosis and treatment?

i've been to four doctors and had countless tests. Nothing conclusive. I was hoping maybe one of the many runners who reads these boards may see it and be like "oh wow I had those exact same thing and here are a few silver bullets to cure it!"

Do Heel-Toe walks for 400m X 3.

Then run on your toes for 50m X 3

Increase until you can run on your toes for 400m X 3.

Shin splints will never see you again.

Compression Sleeves

I've dealt with medial/posterior shin and calf pain for 6 years now. There is no "silver bullet."

I was tested for compartment syndrome a few weeks ago -- results were negative. The best diagnosis I have is tibialis posterior tendinosis. The best tool I have found for management of the flare-ups is massage 1-2x a week.