Diagnose my injury !

dude get a rolling pin from the bed bath and beyond.

take your leg straight to pound town

Although this problem has plagued you for awhile now, it doesn't sound career threatening; I think you just have no had the right amount of attention and time devoted to the injury to make it go away.

Some questions you need to answer in order to get more help:

1. What distances do you normally train for and what is yuor age, sex, and weekly mileage? (this question will help me get a better profile for you).

2. What type/brand of shoes are you running in and how often do you replace your shoes.

3. How often do you stretch and WHEN do you stretch (i.e. before or after workouts)

4. WHAT muscles do you stretch?

5. Foam Roller:

Have you heard of it?

If so, have you used one before?

And if so, how often do you use it?

6. Do you know if you overpronate when you run?

7. What surface do you typically train on the most?

8. And last, describe your pain in DETAIL (i.e. stabbing, shooting, aching, dull, burning, etc). Which starts to hurt first, your calf or your tibia (shin)? Which hurts more? And does it hurt the minute you start running or is it gradually as you keep running that it flares up? Does it bother you during any other activity?

Thanks for your response. Here are my answers to your questions:

1. What distances do you normally train for and what is yuor age, sex, and weekly mileage? (this question will help me get a better profile for you).

23/F/65mpw. I'm training for 1500-5k.

2. What type/brand of shoes are you running in and how often do you replace your shoes.

I wear asics kayanos - replace at 400 miles.

3. How often do you stretch and WHEN do you stretch (i.e. before or after workouts)

I static stretch after running, sometimes before bed. I do some static stretching before working out. I do dynamic stuff before working out (after warm up) and a few days a week after running.

4. WHAT muscles do you stretch?

for dynamic stretching i believe i hit most of the leg, foot, hip muscles. for static stretching i stretch the abductors/adductors, hams and quads, calves sometimes (i find it hard to get a good stretch on them without an incline board), iliopsoas and hip flexors

5. Foam Roller:

Have you heard of it?

If so, have you used one before?

And if so, how often do you use it?

I have one and use it every day. However, most of the time I dont feel like I can put enough pressure on knots when I do find them. I never really do my calves because it doesn't feel like it does anything.

6. Do you know if you overpronate when you run?

I overpronate slightly. I had a gait analysis done a while back and the difference between the amount of overpronation while wearing kayanos vs a lighter shoe was minimal. I have fairly high arches if that means anything, but have been wearing orthotics from a reputable podiatrist for a few years now.

7. What surface do you typically train on the most?

I run 75% of the time on trails. Recently I've had to do everything on the roads. I try to avoid running on crowned roads.

8. And last, describe your pain in DETAIL (i.e. stabbing, shooting, aching, dull, burning, etc). Which starts to hurt first, your calf or your tibia (shin)? Which hurts more? And does it hurt the minute you start running or is it gradually as you keep running that it flares up? Does it bother you during any other activity?

I have a dull pain just medial of the tibia in the center of my shin. It is an achy/dull pain. It hurts most at the beginning of a run and if I do a good long warm up I often wont notice it during the workout. At its worst it was a burning/achy feeling when I ran and the feeling reminded me of how my IT band felt when it was really aggravated once in the past. To me it feels like how most tendonitis feels when it gets to the point where you really cant run through it anymore.

Now, after time off it does not hurt while running. But I still feel a dull achy sensation just walking around. When I had a massage my gastroc and soleus were "stuck" together pretty badly and still are not completely loosened up. So basically my calf doesnt really hurt unless I apply pressure.

Are you running on a hard orthotic that has plastic or some other hard substance under your heel?

Anyone ever said anything about compartment syndrome?

Anyone ever said anything about a stress fracture?

Ever try to go minimal? Run on grass barefoot?

Are you a heel striker, mid-foot, forefoot?

My internet guess is a high rigid arch that is not absorbing shock well may be the issue. It is probably giving you chronic shin splints. Second guess would be stress fracture/reaction.

It sounds like you need to find a good chiro in your area who works with runners (not just hobby joggers, college/sub-eltite types). If ART or any of that soft tissue voodoo will help, they are the ones to do it.

Are you running on a hard orthotic that has plastic or some other hard substance under your heel?

Yes, my orthotic is fairly hard underneath the heel.

Anyone ever said anything about compartment syndrome?

When I was in college compartment syndrome was mentioned (pretty much the same injury). However, they were ready to cut me open without confirming anything. I was/am not convinced that this is the issue.

Anyone ever said anything about a stress fracture?

I do not think its a stress fx. Ive never had one before but i get tendonitis all of the time. In the past (when this first occurred) I had a bone scan done and it was negative.

Ever try to go minimal? Run on grass barefoot?

I have not tried going minimal. I tried to get some barefoot running in, but was never too consistent with it. I started to get plantar pain and decreased the amount I was doing.

Are you a heel striker, mid-foot, forefoot?

I am a mid-foot striker, so I am told.

Thanks for your response so far. I definitely think a good chiro and possibly some ART would help.

runner in need wrote:

I've had recurring shin pain on my left medial shin for years.

My soleus and gastroc seem to be involved as well - knotted up and stuck together.

Can I train through this? Will time off alleviate the "knot" or do I need some sort of treatment?

What can I do to treat/prevent this? Calf exercises? A.R.T.?

Do not do any type of calf raises. The calf muscles are already way too tight. You are getting plenty of exercise for them with your running.

I would train easily until the muscles are relaxed and the injuries are healed, but do not train to the point of injury pain. Any time you feel the pain would cause further damage, then stop and walk home.

Sun salulations are helpful by relaxing the backs of your legs and taking the pressure off the soleus and other calf muscles. You can do them continuously for 10 minutes at a time, 2 or 3 times a day.

Check the bottoms and insoles of your shoes to make sure they have good firm hard rubber. Make sure your track shoes are not causing your feet to stretch too much when you run.

I have high arches and would NOT ever wear an arch support or any other type of material that would stick up into my arches, especially not when running. Doing so is begging for disaster. Having a hard orthotic under your heels is fine, but I'd be concerned about it being under your arch. Also it could be causing the balls of your feet to sit in a hole in each shoe. So many possibilities. Basically look at your feet and shoes to see if you can figure out what is causing the problem.