SA Footy

Who here suffers from shin splints? Any tips on preventing them, and recovering from them when you get them? I've had them regularly over the years and they really are giving me the you know whats!

Strap your foot to make an arch for support, wear good shoes/boots, Dont run on hard ground.

Thats about as far as my tips go...

Most frustrating injury... took me 4months to shake it last year.


Before sport: strap calf: http://richwoodstrack.com/images/physio ... _tape1.png

After: Get a block of ice and 'massage' the inside of your calves.

@Footy Chick Your advice please


Yep I had my podiatrist stuff up my orthotics one year when I was 16, which caused me to get them in with my right leg being the worst by a long way.

Got so bad that I had to stop going to footy training at times but in consultation with the Head footy trainer, Physio and the Podiatrist we managed to get it sorted by the end of the season.

plenty of ice and anti inflammatory creams plus strapping it for games/trainings and it gradually improved.

The first thing I always say when people ask me whats the best thing to do for shin splints"

"nothing". Literally.

but the chances of anyone listening to that advice is donuts so things you can do to ease the pain:

No road running
Get your arches taped in. This is one of my specialties.
ice massage
no impact excercise, ie; swimming, gymwork, although you need to be wary of x-trainers and even cycling where you are still putting a certain amount of impact on the shins.

So everyone here is pretty much on the ball...

I've even resorted to strapping the calf so as to take the stress away from the shin which has worked.

How long have you had them for? If you've had them for ages, there's a chance it may have turned into actual stress fractures which means you are literally not allowed to do impact excercise for months.

I dont live far from you I don't think so PM me if you want me to have a look.

toughen up

long time sufferer of the splints when i played. they suck

A lot of what's been mentioned, but the one thing that has worked like magic in last couple of weeks:

Calf massages before running. Don't directly work the shin, get the meat of the soleus and gastroc really worked in.

thanks for the advice everyone

Shin splints can be caused by improper footwear, so if your shoes don't comfortably fit your feet or if you are wearing old shoes, you might need to look into that.

They can be caused by muscle or bone trauma. With muscle trauma, daily stretching should sort the problem out. Three times a day give or take. If you are about to exercise, ensure you do a rough 5 minute warm up at no more than 50%.

If you do any extra running, make sure the surface isn't hard or slanted.

If you get the pain after exercise, do your stock standard RICE.

Thanks everyone

Never suffered from shin splints. I always thought they were just an excuse for blokes to get out of training, obviously not. Are they as bad as Osteitis Pubis? I had that for 10 months, worst injury I've ever had.

helicopterking wrote:Never suffered from shin splints. I always thought they were just an excuse for blokes to get out of training, obviously not. Are they as bad as Osteitis Pubis? I had that for 10 months, worst injury I've ever had.

Never had OP but when your shins ache just from walking you know you have a problem.....

Had OP so bad that lower core/higher adductor region would seize when I cooled down and I couldn't move.

At least I can walk with shin splints

As heater said, the best thing would be to get to a podiatrist. It could be your natural walking style and orthotics can modify that.

As for anti-inflammatory - get on the daily fish oil and flaxseed oil. Should really be in every athletes diet.

Q. wrote:Had OP so bad that lower core/higher adductor region would seize when I cooled down and I couldn't move.

At least I can walk with shin splints

Yeah same. Couldn't get out of bed, couldn't get up, couldn't sneeze,cough. Most painful 10 months I've ever had.

nothing worse than injuring the coccyx bone. Cant sit down, or take a shit without being in pain. I did suffer from shin splints but changed my footwear and that stopped it.

Bully wrote:nothing worse than injuring the coccyx bone. Cant sit down, or take a shit without being in pain. I did suffer from shin splints but changed my footwear and that stopped it.

yep, fractured my sacrum when I was about 12, damn it was painful! Had to carry a pillow around with me at school just so I could sit down!

Rectonol, its a hemeroid cream, apply to the area before training / playing it honestly works a sh!t load, pardon the pun

pafc1870 wrote:

Bully wrote:nothing worse than injuring the coccyx bone. Cant sit down, or take a shit without being in pain. I did suffer from shin splints but changed my footwear and that stopped it.

yep, fractured my sacrum when I was about 12, damn it was painful! Had to carry a pillow around with me at school just so I could sit down!

achilles tendon is just as bad

Im struggling through trainings with shin splints now. They always get bad about this time of year coz our ovals always firm, no matter how much rain we get.