Best Shin Splints treatment

Shin splints are a painful condition of the lower legs, typically in the front.  They are a very common injury in runners.  Typically, the pain appears during exercise or right after exercise towards the front and inside of the lower legs.  Causes of Shin Splints are typically, overuse of your legs, tiny stress fractures within the Tibia, or poor bio-mechanical control because of a flat foot or severe pronation.

There are many treatments for shin splints as they are a common cause.  Here are the best treatments:

The best treatment for Shin Splints is rest.  Shin Splints are a stress induced condition. If you take away the activity and stress the pain will dissipate.  Even taking a week or two off from your workout routine can help.  This will reduce the stress forces and allow the condition a chance to resolve.

If you want to continue pushing through and treat the shin splints, here are some ideas.  Buy a Shin Splint Compression Sleeve for your lower legs to use while you are running.  This will help reduce the pressure, as well as give compression to the area.  Some runners have great success with this treatment, they can be purchased here:

Consider orthotics or shoe inserts to help with biomechanical control.  With orthotics you can go to a Podiatrist and gets ones specifically made for your foot, sometimes running as much as $350, but occasionally covered by insurance.  Or you can get over the counter orthotics which may not be as effective, but are significantly inexpensive.  Here is a link for good over the counter orthotics for runners:

Another treatment that people have great success with and the advantage of this is it’s not stretching something nebulous. There are compression sleeves for Shins Splints that a lot of runners swear by. These sleeves reduce the discomfort and provide support to your legs by off loading the stress placed on your legs. They reduce the strain and help the reduce the pain associated with shin splints. There are a myriad of types you can buy. Below are a couple examples:

A non invasive treatment that most anyone can do for shin splints in the comfort of their own home is to stretch regularly. There are multiple stretches one can perform, some with very good results. Here a couple that I can highly recommend:

https://podiatryadvice.com/top-5-videos-on-how-to-stretch-with-shin-splints/

One other suggestion I can make, and that is for an athlete or serious runner, get some shin splints reusable ice packs. Applying these to your calves make your legs feel better and fight the inflammation. I highly recommend these for the serious runner out there.

Also, consider seeing a Physical Therapist for stretching exercises and ultrasound treatments.  You can even do your own

If all else fails, go see a doctor, but not just any doctor.  You need either a Podiatrist or a doctor whose speciality is sports medicine. Those physicians will be best able to treat your pain.