I am an infantry squad leader with 10 years of service. I know alot about shin splints. Here goes. Shin splints is a broad term that people use to define all sorts of pain in the lower legs. Especially the delayed muscle soreness that occurrs along the front of the leg, usually due to muscle weakness.
You can strenghten this muscle by running backwards, partner assisted exercises, standing pigeon toed and rising to your tip toes and then returning to the start position.
Also in some cases the tibia actually develops a fracture in which case you are out and just have to let it heal up. You can tell if you've got a fracture by an MRI or a bone scan. Both of which are very expensive, and not usually the first thing a doctor has you do. Usually they prescribe rest, ice, elevation, etc.
A podiatrist will check your gait, check which of your legs is longer (most people have one longer than the other), look at your feet to decide whether your feet are supinated or pronated, (high arches or fallen arches). Recommend a podiatrist for everybody, you could have one leg shorter, in which case they will give you some high quality orthotics.
If your feet are pronated they will usually have some orthotics made. And also prescribe rest, ice, elevation.
If pain still persists, its time to see an orthopaedic surgeon. You could have Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome - MTSS - true shin splints.
This can be helped by an operation, a fasciotomy. One leg is operated on at a time, usually there are two surgeries one for each leg, conducted six weeks apart, but, if you are a true wacko, and your doc is malleable, you might be able to convince him to do both legs at once, this will shorten the total recovery time by 6 weeks. NOT RECOMMENDED. Anyhow... now onto the surgery...
An incision is made along the inside of the lower leg. The nerve running along the inside of your lower leg and down into your arch through your ankle is isolated and set aside to avoid injury, the afflicted muscle is identified (there are three small ones in this area) , and its fascia is slit open. Then the surgeon will move the muscle aside and score the face of your bone, sort of fish scaling it, with a hand held steel tool, I think its called an osceoscope or something like that. It takes about an hour and a half under general anesthesia.
I ran for 10 years without ever having a single case of shin splints, then one day they just came on. I did all of the above. Just had my first surgery last week. My surgery would have had a better chance of success had I done it the first year I had this problem, back in 1996.
I am 34 years old, I made up my mind to become a special forces soldier while deployed last fall. Since my return, I began training like a mad man, and then, I just couldnt train at the level of intensity I needed to. So, I decided to take the bull by the horns, the pain was not going away with any amount of rest, ice, or stretching. I needed to get this worked on. It is the single greatest obstacle to my success, so I identified the root of the problem, the friction in my loop.
This surgery is done after all other conservative treatments listed above have failed. In my case - YEARS after first being afflicted with shin splints and being told to work out harder, to strech more, to run at different frequencies for different durations, to rest, to exercise more, etc.
I burn for the lifestyle that so many of you have. I cannot imagine ever walking away from it once I arrive. Every day, I think about how long a journey I have ahead of me. Like any great undertaking, this one will be built by small moments of consistant effort.
I think there are more Soldiers who suffer with this problem than one might think. But they suffer in silence, cause when you have these types of shin splints, it doesnt bother you to walk, or stand, only to run. And so others might think you are a malingerer, so you motrin up, and suck it up, and fall out of runs. STOP! See an orthopaedic surgeon, the younger you are the better the chances of success. There are not many studies into this problem. But I have one that was conducted in the UK.
The study follows several patients who had the condition and corrective surgery. The good news is that 80% of them had some rediction in the level of pain they felt. And only one of them had an increase in pain. I hope.
Anyhow, I live in Redding, CA. My doc is a retired Navy doc. And he's done his fair share of this operation before. I handed him my digital camera as I went into surgery, and he took photos. If any of you would like to see them, you can contact me at
jose.a.garcia1@us.army.mil
The post surgery wasnt too bad at all. My wife picked me up and drove me home. I was somewhat naseous the rest of the day. The wound is about 8 inches long, intially covered with steri strips, gauze, and an ace bandage. I kept it iced and elevated for two days. Its been exactly one week since surgery, and I am able to stand and sort of limp around enough to do chores, go shopping, and go to the gym. I was prescribed vicodin, and motrin. I hardly took any vicodin at all, maybe 6 pills. The bottle is still sort of full. The motrin is for swelling. So I take that daily.
Around the ankle on inside of my leg its numb, and slightly swollen, the wound is numb still, but the numbness is fading, and the entire affair is sort of itchy now. I think that is good.
My advice to anyone suffering pain along the inside of their lower legs or outside of the lower leg, is to first see a podiatrist immediately, have them treat you for six months, if your are unable to run w/o pain, then see an orthopaedic surgeon.
So now I am chasing a runners high in the pool.
Linear Mode
