Throbbing Shin Splint Pain For Over a Year

A little more background info: I'm 23. Ran quite a bit in high school and the last couple years. I've had pain before in that same area (ruined my senior track season) but this one is a bit different. I just got up and walked and I felt it in the first few steps, this sharp, throbbing pain in my inner left lower leg. Weight bearing doesn't hurt it though, just moving it does. I was thinking tendinitis or something but I'm not sure.

I had an extremely similar thing happen to me (literally all of the minute you described, only feeling it the day after, throbbing pain randomly, etc.)

I got a MRI to check for micro fractures, and while they said that there was a "stress reaction" near where I felt pain, there were no visible fractures. This would be my first suggestion just to make sure that there isn't actually a stress fracture. (The doctor also noted that if it continued he was willing to give me a cortisone shot. I never followed up on this, but probably should have.)

After that, I took 4 weeks off from running, swapping over to bike workouts (not fun). I did the same as you, would come back and be fine for a few weeks, then feel it again. I was able to break the cycle, and am now running at a consistent 60MPW, which I contribute to the following (I kinda threw everything at it at once, so I can't really say if a single thing did it or a combination)

Another 4 weeks totally off, then building up VERY carefully with little if any speed work.

Yoga first thing in the AM/before I go to bed. One modified sun salutation for each side. These poses are also good:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpZ0ppKAl_c/

Vitamin routine emphasizing bone health (cissus quadrangularis, Calcium/Magnesium, etc.)

Switching over to "maximal" shoes (specifically Hokas) from more minimal ones (Kinavara, Freedom ISOs)

The goal was to treat it as both a muscular tightness/strength thing as well as a bone thing. Like I said, it has worked well for me so far, but the throbs aren't totally gone, and are specifically noticeable for me after a hard effort (and I therefore often take an extra rest day or go very slowly the day after workouts). My hope is that by managing this long term it will eventually go away altogether. Let me know if you have any questions or if there's anything else I can help with. Whatever the hell this is, it's insanely annoying.

cortisone shots sound like a really bad idea. inhibits most kinds of tissue synthesis, increases fracture risk:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21570035

I wonder if this might be a sensitization issue following a stress fracture, see e.g.

https://www.painscience.com/articles/central-sensitization.php

Walking backwards on a treadmill cured my shin splints.

It's so confusing, it hurts sometimes but other times it doesn't hurt. It's on my inner shin and if I try running within a week or two it'll hurt enough that running will be unenjoyable. I'm afraid of taking off a month or two, coming back and then the pain coming back again in few weeks. All I do is easy runs 7:30-8:00/mi pace, that's it.

Does anyone else have any input? I’m really getting fed up with this. I managed to run from. November-March (30-45 MPW) then I developed similar pain in my right leg too! I had to keep taking days off and I can’t go all in on my base training. After a few weeks of 10-20 MPW I ran a couple 5K’s the last few weeks and felt fine and decided to start base training again. Problem is when I try to do any sort of consistent running this pain starts up by the second week. I’m laying here and my left leg will feel fine one moment then it’ll pulsate in that area for a few moments then feel fine again. Kind of a sharp ache that I can’t ignore. It’s really annoying. Since my run last night the random pulsating tibia pain through out the day has increased. I just wish I had an idea what this is and why it hasn’t gotten better after nearly 2 years! I don’t get it. All I’ve done the last two weeks is easy runs at 8:00-8:30 pace on half roads and grass. I really want to PR this year and I haven’t been able to in a long time because of this. I really want to nip this in the bud.

I used to suffer from shin splints also, not as bad as what you described but I wasn't trying to run as much back then either. A buddy recommended compression sleeves and I tried them. I've been shin splint free for a couple years now and I attribute it to wearing compression sleeves every run. I usually do 40-60 mpw now. If you try them go with zensah, they are pricey but imo the best, and it makes a difference.

I'd also say since it is so bad you probably need to get a doctor's opinion and some imaging. Good luck.

Compression sleeves wrote:

I used to suffer from shin splints also, not as bad as what you described but I wasn't trying to run as much back then either. A buddy recommended compression sleeves and I tried them. I've been shin splint free for a couple years now and I attribute it to wearing compression sleeves every run. I usually do 40-60 mpw now. If you try them go with zensah, they are pricey but imo the best, and it makes a difference.

I'd also say since it is so bad you probably need to get a doctor's opinion and some imaging. Good luck.

Now I just gotta figure out where I can find a good running doctor here in SW Florida.

Anyone have any more input?

Sub16_5k wrote:

Anyone have any more input?

Does the pain every move around the tibia? If so u have a tibial nerve impingment. If ibuprofen and ice do nothing and you get weakness on the leg you probably have a nerve problem which cannot be treated as a muscular issue. The nerve runs up to the neck fyi.

Rec wrote:

Sub16_5k wrote:

Anyone have any more input?

Does the pain every move around the tibia? If so u have a tibial nerve impingment. If ibuprofen and ice do nothing and you get weakness on the leg you probably have a nerve problem which cannot be treated as a muscular issue. The nerve runs up to the neck fyi.

Nope, it just twinges throughout the day in that same spot and when I run. I’ve had this since August 2017. It actually responds to icing and Graston massage.

Anyways I’m going to go for a scheduled run in a couple minutes. My let hasn’t twinged much the last couple hours. Just doing a short 30 minute easy run at 8:00-8:30 pace. I’ll report back what I feel.

My run went pretty well, my leg twinged way less than yesterday. I’m going for an easy 1 hour tomorrow morning. If it hurts I’ll cut the run short and ice my leg.

Had a pretty good week but had to cut a run short today. My whole left lower leg felt very tight and I just feel general discomfort there. Now I'm also getting pain on the inside of my right leg too. I'm going to ice the crap out of this and if it keeps getting worse, well I don't know what else to do. I don't have the first clue of any good sport doctors here in Florida/Fort Myers.

Stop running for awhile. Walk, swim, bike, etc. Do anything that does not bother your shins.

When you return to running do not run every day. Instead make it a goal to jog 50 yards on day one, day 2 cross train, day 3 jog 2 x 50 yards with a 50 walk between. Day 4 cross train. Day 5 go 3 x 50 if you have had no pain on any of the previous days. Continue to ease into it this way until you can run a whole mile. Then experiment with socks, inserts, special treatments, physical therapy, active release, massage. You might be up to a whole 2 miles within 3 months.

For some people that is the way it is.

For sure you do not want to take a week off and then start running 30 miles!

What shoes you wear?