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Monday, January 24, 2011

Shin Splints: Basic Treatments

Shin splints is so common, and normally responds so well to basic treatment, that most clinicians do not get too involved in its complexities. The basic treatment of shin splints involves:


  • Reduce activity to pain free levels for at least one week.

  • Ice the involved area for 30 minutes 3x/day.

  • Change your athletic shoes if they may be worn down.

  • Minimize your speed workouts and hill workouts.

  • Consider if levels of Calcium and Vitamin D may be low.

  • Attempt 3 to 4 days/week alternative exercises as long as it is pain free (i.e. cycling, elliptical, walking, swimming, court sports, etc.)

  • Stretch the achilles tendon 2 positional (knee straight and knee bent) for 1 minute each 3x/day.

  • Experiment with an ankle brace or ankle taping if it is painful to walk.

  • Wear tie-on supportive athletic shoes full time while the shin is healing (although you may experiment with clogs as an alternative).

  • Attempt pain free muscle strengthening of the muscle group involved. More on this in a later post.
Several videos on this subject.




Pointing to the Anterior Tibial Shin Splint

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Thank you very much for leaving a comment. Due to my time restraints, some comments may not be answered.I will answer questions that I feel will help the community as a whole.. I can only answer medical questions in a general form. No specific answers can be given. Please consult a podiatrist, therapist, orthopedist, or sports medicine physician in your area for specific questions.