I have been here before, but this time it seems like its much much worse then it was before. My shins, they feel like living death. I can’t explain the pain I feel in them, and its a pain that won’t go away. Even after applying the treatments I have collected over the years to deal with shin splints. So here’s to crowd-sourcing some solutions. Its really my first attempt, hope to get some sort of feedback, but knowing this blogs readership, y’all are just plain simple creepy stalkers more then engaged internet-denziens. But I have faith that someone out there can help me with these two things:
1) What I need to know is if there are any other things I can do to alleviate or mitigate the “growing pains” that constitute my shin splints; and, 2) compression wear, does the science meet the fantasy of this athletic wear when it comes to shin splints?
What I have done:
I run, a lot actually. I am shooting for long distance running. So far in this attempt I have made it to four miles, but earlier this year before the World Cup extended break, I was running 6 and 8 miles, working toward my first 12 mile run. When I got shin splints back then I did the following things, which I am currently doing now:
- I iced my shins;
- I took Tyenol extra strength once a week to help alleviate the pain;
- I alternated my workouts so I wasn’t just running every day;
- I ate potassium supplements;
- I drank lots and lots of water;
- I also rested between my longer run days;
- I got new shoes;
All of these are things I have done this time around. In fact, I run every other day, which is a significant change from earlier this year where I was still running short distances every day, then running longer distance, resting and starting again with a short distance run (usually 1-2 miles). I also changed things up by putting cycling into the mix along with workouts from Insanity, stuff that is pylometric based. However, the shins still hurt and the pain hasn’t subsided significantly over the past two weeks. In fact, this past week I stop running altogether and thats really helped, however, I need to run. The struggle is real here.
What can be done:
Color me skeptical, but I am not sure that sleeves will work. I wear other compression gear, however, I don’t wear it for “muscle performance” claims, but rather to hold things together appropriately- don’t let your mind wander, focus! I get the sense that the sleeves are more a “mind” thing, and the science just doesn’t seem to conclusively back up the mind-trick.
Do any of you recommend them? If so what brands? I am currently leaning toward trying the 2XU Calves Compression Guard.
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