O my SHIN SPLINTS!
 

Hello,

I have been walking for about 1 month now and I have started to increase my pace and feel a bit more confident with walking.

However, I just starting getting shin splints and they are awful. Everyone says I should just walk through them...but I am concerned that it might result in an injury. It feels so intense when I am working out, but it goes right away after I am done.

Any advice? ;)

I think I may have experienced the same thing when I first started jogging. I'm not quiet sure what they are exactly.

I read that it is your muscle tearing away from your shin bone...which makes it even groser...the pain went from below my knee down to my ankle...burned like you know WHAT!

I do not believe it's the muscle tearing away from the bone (though I had a friend who also thinks this). I have NEVER read anything like that. It's usually just inflammation. Try to ice them often (several times a day). I tried wrapping mine while running and that helped too. I personally would not tell you to just walk through them. They will only get more inflamed which eventually can lead to a real problem.

There are stretches and exercises that can help (google is your friend here) a lot, but even before you start stretching--what kind of shoes are you walking in?

I get them really bad also while running. Try rotating your ankle a lot and someone gave me this advice: sit on the couch with your leg out and carve the alphabet with your toe pointing forward. Do it often. I've noticed some improvement since doing this. Also icing for 10 minutes at a time whenever possible!

I had that problem, strangely enough in one leg only, when I started jogging on the treadmill. There are stretching exercises (google it up) and icing is good. However, the best thing you can for yourself is to make sure that you have the best shoes you can afford. I was using shoes that were not for running (not really trying to save money, I just didn't think about it) and it helped when I got proper running shoes. Make sure to ease off for a while, DO NOT exercise thorugh it, it may get only worse.
And by the way, many online articles do state that the muscle separates from the bone (though I guess it must be a really progressed case).

Originally Posted by aaneri:
Hello,
Everyone says I should just walk through them...

Yikes!! who said that? Totally wrong. Unfortunately, you can't exercise your way through them. The only way to heal them is through rest.

However, that being said mine flared up significantly in the past month. I was so depressed. I rested for a week (or two, can't remember). Then I made sure I didn't walk/run on consecutive days - I would give a day between to rest. I also iced them at night, and took one Advil right after running. I also did extensive stretching.

I didn't heal them, but the flare went down and I was able to run every second day with a little pain.

It's not muscle tearing from bone. You can wikipedia it to get a better idea of what it is.

So:
1) Rest (ideally until pain completely goes away)
2) Leave one day rest between walking or running
3) Ice
4) Stretch
5) Make sure your shoes are right

~Choirgirl~

Do not just keep walking! You could get a stress fracture, which would mean months off.

The muscle in your shin is inflammed. You can do some self massage on this - look for a point that is tender when your foot is flexed. The sore spot will be just to the outside of the shin bone, about 5-7 inches down from your knee. You can massage 3-5 times a day, for a minute or so. This can help.

For exercise in the meantime, try elliptical (if you belong to gym), swimming, pilates, yoga or bicycling.

The RunnersWorld magazine this month has a page stretches for shin splints...

Just found a on line short article there is more information in the magazine...