Help with shin splints

• Mr. 300

  

  Help!!! Any suggestions to help my 14 year old?? His shins are killing him right now. Long jump, 110m hurdles, 200m hurdles.
• THE4RINGZ

  

  Ice and rest is the only remedy I have ever heard of for that condition.
  
  Good luck to him, hope he gets back on the track soon for the Knights.
• Mr. 300

  

  He's in 8th grade, and I don't want him to ruin baseball which has now started. He runs track in Jr. High to stay in shape for baseball. I made him shut it down at the meet last night after he talked with his coach.
  
  We need him on the field to kick Triway's Gold team again this summer!!!
• THE4RINGZ

  

  Good idea shutting him down, the people I have known with shin splints say it is a pretty chronic condition and resting is about the only way to heal.
  
  So yeah do what you have to do so he can play baseball if that is his real interest. I'll take your word on the kicking of Triway's Gold Team. I know when my kids were younger and played baseball West Holmes always seemed to have a great program. Good coaching and great players. Hope they have a terrific season.
• Squirmydog

  I agree. I was plagued with shin splints in college. The only way they went away was with rest.
• Thunder70

  

  Ice and rest.
  
  To prevent this in the future, do tibial raises. They're just like calf raises but you stand on a step with your toes overhanging the edge and raise and lower your foot.
• Finishtiming

  One thing we used to do in college was to use a towel laying flat on the floor (tile or wood-smooth surface). Place your foot on the floor in front of the towel with just your toes on the towel. Now use your toes to pull the towel to you by curling them and leaving your heel on the floor without moving it. Then after curling it to you try pushing it back out. You can do this a couple times a day. You need to strengthen the muscles there and this will start to do so within a week or 2. Ice and ibuprofen are a daily regimen also. A bucket of ice and water to stand in works best (painful until leg goes numb) fill the bucket so that your leg is in up to the knee.
  
  Once you do this for about a week try adding weight to the towel.
• Mr. 300

  

  ccrunner609 wrote:

  Mr. 300 wrote: He's in 8th grade, and I don't want him to ruin baseball which has now started. He runs track in Jr. High to stay in shape for baseball. I made him shut it down at the meet last night after he talked with his coach.
  
  We need him on the field to kick Triway's Gold team again this summer!!!

  
  
  You have to be in shape for baseball???????????????

  Yep....if you want to be good.
• said_aouita

  

  End of practice do strides backwards.
• stationrun

  

  Me too, but it does help!
• Con_Alma

  First you must repair the muscle tissue.....as state that means RICE.
  
  Then you must strengthen the muscle tissue to prevent them in the future. Towels are a good tool just be certain you hit multiple angles. Write you name with your foot in the air and resistance from the towel,...etc. Running backward as stated.
  
  Whatever you do don't push through it...especially with an 8th grader. With broken down muscles you lose support and micro fractures are not out of the question.
  
  Good Luck
• said_aouita

  

  ccrunner609 wrote:

  said_aouita wrote: End of practice do strides backwards.

  
  
  I believe I have heard you say that before

  I guess backward strides as part of practice or cool down is my niche?
  I'll add another for shin splints.
  Lay on stomach in bed. Toes over the edge of mattress. Do "toe curls" using the mattress as resistance.
• Con_Alma

  ll great pieces of advice...just remember you must repair or heal the muscles before you strengthen them when it comes to shin splints.
• Teamster

  KINESIO TAPE!!!!
• decath

  I like to get paper dixie cups and freeze water in them. When they are frozen you can peel the paper back and massage your shins without having the ice cube slip out of your hands. Wendys water cups work even better if you can get a stack.
  
  When my shin splints got really bad I used Capzasin (arthritis cream) on them to numb the pain. I don't recommend it though. Burns pretty bad if you get it anywhere else and is hard to get off when you are done with the workout.
• blackbox

  For prevention, make sure you are not running in worn out shoes, running shoes can be worn out and appear fine (and be fine for everything but any serious running). Also you need to determine whether some type of motion control shoes would benefit, some runners also benefit from aftermarket orthotics, and even custom orthotics. All that stuff helps prevent (at least for some runners) shin splints. This is assuming the runner is not trying to do too much (increasing mileage too quickly), or going too fast for the particular workout being done. In short, smart training. Once shin splints have set in, rest is pretty much the only complete fix. If they aren't too bad, cutting a workout short as soon as they start to hurt more than a little is a way to get rest and get some workout in. Also cross-training helps, biking for example, done at a suitable heart rate.
  
  Unless you know pretty much for sure that training is the cause, make sure to pay attention to the shoes, and additional arch support should be considered.
• GORUN

  what i've shown kids is similar to the towel someone else mentioned above... have him sit on the ground with his legs out straight and push down on his toes then have him pull them up, then make sure to stretch the calfs in the same way... push down on the balls of his feet and just like a calf raise have him push down... 2-3 times usually helps stretch em out really quick... but like everyone else said ice/rest is the only way to get rid of the problem