pain at the front of your shins if so
i'm afraid it is likely to be shin
splints and this is a really common
injury amongst runners especially
those new to the sport or if you
suddenly increase your
mileage and it's obviously very
frustrating you want to get back to
running pain-free
as soon as possible you're not going to
like to hear it but rest does help
although i'm delighted to say
there's actually a lot more you can do
to speed up the recovery
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before we look at the treatment of shin
spins just want to quickly explain
what they are 90 of shin pain is medial
tibial stress syndrome which
is pain or discomfort when you touch
that lower inside third
of your shin and the remaining 10
comprises of external compartment
syndrome
which is pain whilst exercising the
muscular part of the shin so if more to
the outside that's a soft tissue area
and also within that 10 is pain distinct
pain down the sort of
front spine of the shin that really bony
point if you've got a really distinct
point on that i
go and see a professional because it is
a sign of a potential stress fracture
however with the majority of shin pain
coming under that medial tibial stress
syndrome
that is the area that we're going to be
focusing on today
and shin splints are repetitive strain
style of injury if you think of
every stride you're doing it's putting
your body under strain now the tibia
bone which is the larger of the two
bones
in your lower leg will actually bend
ever so slightly on each
foot strike so that's taking stress in
itself and then add to that the fact
that the muscles
around it are contracting and relaxing
every stride
and they're attached via their fascia
into the bones outer lining so be gently
pulling on it
each time all this combined will add
will basically result in
inflammation around the area which then
leads to pain and discomfort that you
feel
and you'll feel it either during running
and or
after and also on touch for that area
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a repetitive stress style of injury is
unsurprisingly
a result of repeatedly doing the same
action before your body
has adapted and is strong enough to
resist those forces
but the good news being when it comes to
running if you build back
up slowly and follow these steps that
i've got for you can get back to running
injury free
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i know no athlete likes to hear this one
but it is an injury and therefore your
body is going to need some time to
recover
in order to be able to repair but unless
it is
a bone stress reaction or a stress
fracture then you
don't actually have to rest entirely and
there are lots of other options you can
do so
resting means resting from running in
this situation and you can cross-chain
so you can cycle
swim go on the elliptical trainer and
even lift in the gym as long as now this
actually causes you any pain or makes
your
injury worse then it's just going to
help with overall strengthening and
keeping you sane and fit
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you can speed up the reduction of that
inflammation and the removal of
some of it as well with ice it's a tried
and tested method
just make sure you always have a damp
cloth between your skin
and the ice itself and then some gentle
massage can help with removal
of that and later on it can help with
promoting the healing process
the treatment of shin splints however is
more about the prevention of them
returning after your body has worked its
magic and repaired
thanks to rest so let's have a look at
the aspects you can address to ensure
they don't return
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head to the gym and work on
strengthening your core
and your legs a athlete with efficiently
firing muscles
is going to have a more efficient gait
and therefore be less likely to get
injured
so some great exercises are those
compound movements such as squats or box
jumps that will cross over nicely
to helping your running and if you want
to focus specifically on strengthening
the lower leg of that area that you've
actually experienced the pain
then you can look at working on some
movements around the foot using a physio
band so
moving your foot in different directions
to strengthen those small muscles that
support that area
check your shoes it should be one of the
first things that you do if you get a
new injury
or a niggle if you're not sure about the
wear of your shoes and how to know well
check out our video on when to replace
your running shoes basically once the
midsole starts to lose its cushioning
it's going to be putting added stress
and strain on your feet and lower limbs
and then look further up the chain
what's going on with your hips
have you got weak glutes are your hips
actually dropping on each side
or maybe you're finding your knees are
dropping in which is then going to put
more force
on your feet so obviously think about
running tall and having good form but
also doing that work in the gym that
we've already mentioned
will help with the firing of those
glutes
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once you are pain-free it doesn't mean
you can automatically return to the
intensity and the mileage that you're at
beforehand you need to build it up
gradually as increasing your running too
quickly
could well have been one of the problems
you had in the first place so go by the
10 rule it's always a good guide
not increasing the amount of running
you're doing by more than 10
each week and keep an eye on your shins
as well if you do start to feel
any pain or discomfort whilst running
then back off and also
just keep an eye on how they feel to
touch because early warning signs are
there to be
listened to it's not the type of injury
that you can just ignore i'm afraid it
won't
magically go away
as an athlete i had recurring shin
splints and shin pain so i understand
your frustration
and i got to the stage where i was just
tempted to run through the pain because
it seemed that nothing was going to
solve it but
it turned out it was a matter of time
and building up that strength so stick
with it
you will get there hopefully you don't
have shin splints at the moment but
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