WAG Shin Splints

[Deleted member 17723]

Hey guys I know it seems I am always injured-but I am at that age where I can't quite catch up with my body! Lots and lots of growth spurts I know have shin splints-but only really in one shin, the other is only little pain.
What do you, your DD or anyone you know do to help with the pain? I couldn't even walk tonight-I am almost thinking its a stress fracture. But who knows.
Tape/prewrap? Ice? Rest? I can't just skip gym-I may be out of gym for years if I do
Suggestions?

 

[Turk]

Ibuprofen, ice, taping, all ease things slightly if you don't have any choice (I had non-stop tap rehearsals most days right after a gymnastics competition, so there was no let-up) but you really do have to rest if it's that bad. I got to the point where I'd take off for a leap and my shin would hurt so much that I'd wonder if I could learn to fly in the space of half a second just so I didn't need to land!

But seriously, mine were so bad I thought one particular area might be a stress fracture, had it x-rayed and it wasn't but that was enough to get me to take it seriously and rest because it can develop into stress fractures over time. Don't wait until it gets that bad - rest now while you can, rather than have to take months out to let stress fractures heal later.

 

[flips123]

Hey guys I know it seems I am always injured-but I am at that age where I can't quite catch up with my body! Lots and lots of growth spurts I know have shin splints-but only really in one shin, the other is only little pain.
What do you, your DD or anyone you know do to help with the pain? I couldn't even walk tonight-I am almost thinking its a stress fracture. But who knows.
Tape/prewrap? Ice? Rest? I can't just skip gym-I may be out of gym for years if I do
Suggestions?

I've had shin splints on and off for years. You need to stretch them. Flex your foot hard for 10 seconds a few times, do this multiple times a day. Ice after every practice. Massage/rub out your shins, even though they hurt. During practice tape around your entire shin, but not too tightly in a slight fishtail pattern. I don't do the extra strips on the side as shown with the picture. I don't know if taping them helps them heal, but the pressure makes them feel better. Honestly, I feel like it's mainly learning to cope with the pain. However, you need to be proactive. If they do hurt, ice, stretch and tape NOW. Get on top of the pain before it gets worse and your calf muscle pulls away from your shin because of it. I do have a teammate who had to go to PT because her shin splints were so bad.

 

[GymRays]

Flexing foot does not stretch that muscle, it's the tibialis anterior that allows you to flex your foot when contracted and the main cause of shin splints. It's body is attached directly to your shin and when not stretch properly, the pain you feel is it pulling on your shin. You need to stretch that muscle. Massage therapy is great for this. This has some good info:
http://pennstatehershey.adam.com/content.aspx?productId=117&pid=60&gid=000654

It also allows you to pronate your foot, which gymnasts do during dance (turning you pointed toe outward.) So opposite actions to stretch would be point and turn inward.

Careful not to use pain reliever or muscle relaxers during practice. They mask the pain and if you cant feel pain during an activity or skill, you may injure yourself further. At night is good so you can sleep.


http://www.teachpe.com/anatomy/muscles/tibialis_anterior.php

 

[my4buffaloes]

My ds was a runner for a bit and had horrible shin splints. You can go to a running store and buy compression sleeves that help. Good luck!

 

[GymRays]

It also allows you to pronate your foot, which gymnasts do during dance (turning you pointed toe outward.) So opposite actions to stretch would be point and turn outward

I think I meant to say supinate, not pronate.

 

[flips123]

Flexing foot does not stretch that muscle, it's the tibialis anterior that allows you to flex your foot when contracted and the main cause of shin splints. It's body is attached directly to your shin and when not stretch properly, the pain you feel is it pulling on your shin. You need to stretch that muscle. Massage therapy is great for this. This has some good info:
http://pennstatehershey.adam.com/content.aspx?productId=117&pid=60&gid=000654

It also allows you to pronate your foot, which gymnasts do during dance (turning you pointed toe outward.) So opposite actions to stretch would be point and turn inward.

Careful not to use pain reliever or muscle relaxers during practice. They mask the pain and if you cant feel pain during an activity or skill, you may injure yourself further. At night is good so you can sleep.


http://www.teachpe.com/anatomy/muscles/tibialis_anterior.php

Is there a reason that flexing makes it feel better? I do track in addition to gymnastics and that's one of the strengthening/stretching ways that my running coach showed me. There's also sitting on your knees and leaning back onto your toes/ankles.

 

[GymRays]

I think it's because the actually pain during shin splits is from the impact pressure not pointing or flexing. So it feels better to do any motion other than put weight on it. Flexing will strenghten the muscle, which is good after recovery since making the muscle stronger helps it endure more impacts. However, they will occur more and more if it's not stretch very well before activity. So sitting on your knees and leaning back will stretch the muscle. You also want to strengthen calves since they are a supporting muscle.

 

[flippin out]

My daughter suffered from shin splints for a few years. I had a mom of another gymnast (her dd suffered from very severe shin splints) recommend Cho-Pat Shin Splint Sleeves. Her dd had tried everything and this was the only thing that worked for her. She also did PT stretches and so forth......but this sleeve was a must. Taping did not help her at all. Here is a link to the product -- http://www.ithacasports.com/chshspcoslfs.html (I'm sure you can search around on other sites, but at the time that I purchased, this was the cheapest)

I bought on that recommendation and my dd loved it. Her case was not as severe, but the Cho-Pat sleeve relieved hers with no problem. After her shins were better she would wear it as prevention for a while. It really helped her and my friends dd, hope it can help you too.

 

[gymgymgymnast08]

Freeze water in Styrofoam cups and then use it to ice massage your shins. You can tear away the Styrofoam as the ice begins to melt.