HELP. SHIN SPLINTS. DYING

What type of shoes are you wearing? That plays a huge role when it comes to shin splints.

Better shoes. Absolutely, 100% better shoes.

Katelin I wear asics tennis shoes!

@Lindsey: The question is are you wearing the right one for your feet/gait?

I have to wear motion control shoes, I like Mizuno Wave Paradox 2, because my arch collapses too much when I walk. It has a much better/stronger arch support than some of their other "models". I would get your hair evaluated at a running store.

When you start running, are you taking it easy or running for 45 minutes the first time? Easing into it can help. Start with 10 minutes and build up over the course of a month or two.

Go to a running store and get fitted for shoes. They'll look at your arch and stride and recommend the best shoes for you.

Yes shoes! Go and get a gait analysis at an actual running store. They'll be able to help you figure out what type of shoe is best for your particular gait, or even insoles if you're not able or willing to purchase a new pair of running shoes. Most people don't realize that when running your feet are almost always the root of the problem. Fix the feet, fix the problem.

I ran into similar issues (pun intended haha).

While good shoes are a must, I found that shin strengthening exercises worked well for me. The stronger your shins are, the better! Try searching those on Google so you can get a better idea of what they look like.

If you need to, you can try some sort of kinesio tape and look up proper taping methods for shin splints when they start to get sore.

That's more of a fix the after effects than prevent the problem, though so I agree with pp on better shoes.

When I ran track in high school I would always walk backwards in the grass to help. K tape is supposed to work pretty well too. Also make sure your footfalls are heel then arch then toe rather than flat footed

Bananas and glucosamine tablets is what my dr used to tell me. Oh and up your water intake. But shoes are important

Definitely get better running shoes that work for you! I love Brooks running shoes, the ones that work best for me are the Ghost.

Does it hurt on the outside of your legs or more on the shin? I always thought I had shin splints and it turns out it was more than that called "compartment syndrome". I know certain shoes help, so good luck!

The cause of shin splints is many fold: overpronation, hard surfaces, cantilevered roads, increasing time/distance too fast, increased body mass, leg length discrepancy, improper or ill fitting footwear, and tight calf muscles just to name a few. It would be of benefit to have a good assessment done in your usual footwear by someone qualified, like a physiotherapist/chiropractor/sport medicine doc. Good luck!

*not medical advice

I ran varsity cc in college. I definitely recommend going to an actually running store (local not dick's or MC sports) and get fitted for actual running shoes. It will help tremendously. Also, make sure you slowly ease back into running. If you try doing too much too soon and your legs aren't used to it than they most likely will get hurt. If it begins to hurt when you aren't running than you need to see a doctor and make sure something else isn't going on. For pain management, I would suggest compression socks (or even taping) and icing. The best way to ice shins is sticking a Dixie cup full of water in the freezer and then pealing the cup down and rubbing it on your shins. Also, make sure to stretch before and after! My body was so different running later in college than it was in high school. Running is tough on your body and although 22 is still young, running starts to be harder on your body than when you were 17.

I used to get terrible shin splints in high school. As I moved into marathon running, I had a gate evaluation. My shin splints were caused by m heel striking the ground before the ball of my foot aka my stride was too long. I shortened my stride, and 4 full and 12 half marathons later, no shin splints!

Eat bananas. I used to get then all the time in ballet, but I didn't know that's what it was called. I have a pretty high pain tolerance, so when I finally figured out what I was experiencing was this same shin splint thing the other girls I trained with wouldn't stop complaining about (they made it sound just awful), I was really confused. Anyway, bananas should help by increasing your potassium.

Stretch and warmup before you run.

Ice your shins when you get them and don't run until they've cleared up. That will help with recovery

How are you landing on your foot? You can help prevent shin splints by rolling off your entire foot as it strikes the ground. If you're landing on the ground as if you're jogging in place, you'll be at a much higher risk for shin splints.

As PPs have said, go to a proper running store, have your gait analyzed by a seasoned runner and your shoes fitted accordingly. This can help prevent other injuries down the road, such as IT band problems, plantar fasciitis, and so on. Also, echoing @K.M.'s tip about the Dixie cups.

There are more injuries in women's cross-country than in men's football. Distance running needs its own sort of padding.