Avoiding Shin Splints

I was asked for advice on managing and treating shin splints this morning - here are the key bits we went over to hopefully help others with these tricky and self limiting injuries.

Shin splints are commonly seen in Physiotherapy and we typically would assess and work on muscle imbalances (with this injury we often find tight calves, weak glutes and altered muscle patterning as the main culprits). You can also get some good response from acupuncture to stimulate the inflammatory process if symptoms are struggling to settle. Insoles don't have much evidence behind them but I do find my patients often like them - I like pro step insoles as a good one that you can semi custom.

If you are a runner, here are some other helpful tips: 

1. Eat a balanced diet and ensure a good intake of calcium and vitamin D

2. Mix in strength and conditioning training to your running schedule to help your legs cope with higher demands

3. Ensure you take rest days from running at least twice a week (you can cross train with other activities if needed, like swimming)

4. Plan ahead your training and aim to increase intensity, duration and gradient by around 10% per week

5. If you start to feel the general ache in your bone then slow down, so that it doesn’t progress into a stress fracture

I hope you have found this information helpful - just my brief overview. If your suffering from a running related injury and need any informal advice about how to manage or what treatment could be available, feel free to message me.

#BespokeWellbeing #Physio # London # CoventGarden # MarbleArch #Running #Injury #KneePain #LegPain #ShinSplints

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