Aching shins/calfs whilst and after running

[matt85]

Hello.

I've been running recently but whenever i go out i get the most intense burning and aching at the bottom of my shins and calfs. This only seems to happen running on roads as i play football (soccer) on grass often and swim and dont get this pain. I have also ran on roads for many years without getting this pain until recently. It also lasts for about 15 minutes after i have finished but the soreness lasts a couple of day.

Is this shinsplints?

[Diomed]

matt,

i'm experiencing the same thing. shin splints is a weird classification but i have been told to do reverse foot raises to strengthen thoses muscles in the front of your legs and to do extra stretches after runs including your calves. hopefully someone will come in with a little more expertise then me but the pain does suck yo.

[StaticShock]

Shin splints are the suck. Just another dumb overuse type injury from running - so hard to fix those.

I would suggest lots of calf stretches and ice cup massages. Try to find some softer surfaces to run on too. Roads suck. You can do some good workouts around soccer fields if you can tolerate a little monotony.

[notfreemoney]

Run on softer surfaces.... after you run you should ice them. And you should heat them during the day when you arent running.

It could be a problem with the way you run but would probably have to go see a doc for orthotics. Other than that make sure you have a good pair of shoes- not something you want to skimp on.

[Blarg]

I never got these when actively running and jumping rope for years on end as a teenager/young adult, but after laying off running for a few years, I finally got them. So I think that you can probably make yourself more vulnerable to them by not bearing loads/exercising with those muscles/tendons/ligaments. I guess that would suggest that you can reduce your chances of getting them by doing some non-impact exercises for a while.

Re: building up the muscles around the side of the shin/toward the front, you can do this pretty easily at your desk every day; just lift up your toes toward your knee and do some holds. Rock your foot a bit so the sole faces more outwards, then more inward. I did this a lot and still occasionally do, to build up muscle around my shin to help absorb impact from blocking kicks. Eventually you can get a pretty fair amount of muscle there by doing this, and it helps stretch your calves and tendons around there too, and probably strengthens the tendons a bit. Really couldn't hurt to try it.

[maniacut]

I don't know about the shin pain but about the calf pain you may have calf/achilles tendinitis. Is the pain in your calfs worse when you first wake up? Does the calf hurt during a small jump (on extension and landing)? Can you sometimes warm up and feel the pain go away but if you rest it comes back worse? Those were my symptoms and I self diagnosed myself with calf/achilles tendinitis. After looking on the internets for treatment all I found was the standard Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation protocol so I tried that and it did alleviate my pain but very slowly. After about a week with slow progress I found this study http://www.carletonsportsmed.com/chr...tendinitis.htm
Their sample size is pretty small I guess but I had nothing to lose and have been doing the calf raises now for 5 days and it's really working 1000x better than just RICE therapy.

Overuse injuries are a bitch as it's so easy to take 1 step forward and 2 step backwards. Be aware and try to avoid that...

[matt85]

Hello.

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated. Im going to try the exercises and also lay off the road running as well for a bit i think.

Cheers

Matt.