Shin Splints

[Malako]

i think i may have, becuase basketball season just started for my school cuz the teachers were on strike, so we started off with no practise, but a tourement. and for the past week since, my shins have been killing me. alot since tuesday game. and during tonights, my right shin went all funny colored, it was bruising without hitting it. is this shin slpints or just really tight muscles? and what can i do about? the weather is finally nice enough to ride, so i dont want to be even more injured from basketball that it hurts to ride.

[Beau]

That sounds like shin splints to me. I'm a huge sufferer of them. I get them basically all winter, from running on the hardwood floor, and then when we run the track in the spring/summer/fall, since our track is crappy asphalt. Anyways, you usually get them from running on hard surfaces or not, especially when you're bones are still growing. Some people are more prone to them. For me, all I could do was stop running on hard surfaces, and I had to buy more padded shoes, my canvas high-tops just didn't cut it. A hot bath usually helps, and an ibuprofen for the swelling. Mine didn't bother me riding, it doesn't usually put a lot of pressure on the sore spots.

[discosue2]

The biggest contributor of shinsplints is lack or arch support.

If your muscles are conditioned you may want to look at orthodics or an additional insole for your shoes with arch support.

If they arent - start slow and allow them to strenghten slowly just like the rest of the muscles in your body.

As for taking the pain away - REST!

[~*Danielle*~]

I have shin splints mainly from over-pronating, but I wouldn't get them if I didn't do track.

They are almost always gone now that I go to a physiotherapist on a regular basis and got orthodics. I had a decent natural arch support but when I was standing my ankles fell inside and made my arches flat. Just arch support won't fix this, I needed support along the whole inside of my foot. So I would go to an orthodics store if just arch supports don't solve the problem.

Massage, accupuncture, electic shock therapy, ultra sound therapy, icing for 15 minutes, GETTING ORTHODICS, running on softer surfaces(run on the inside of the trakc on the grass instead of in the lanes if you ahve a bad track), all help. And rest, but if that's not possible you should look into these.

Also, your physiotherapist shuold be able to give you exercises showing you to strengthen your feet, ankles and shins, and they should be able to show you some good stretches.

Chances are you probably won't need to do this much, but I don't know the severity of them. I Just had to because I am really into track and volleyball, and I wanted to get back into them asap, but my shin bones (I forget the proper name) were on the verge of getting stress fractures.