Shin Splints...

Stefan · Post by **Stefan** » 09 May 2006 16:25

Turns out ive seemed to get shin splints.

Any advice how to treat it or nurse it so it will get betetr because it really hurts to walk right now.

brinard · Post by **brinard** » 09 May 2006 16:32

get insoles. spenco)
or better shoes (clima, gunit).
and play on softer surface if you can.
maybe order shred mats.

hackeysnacker · Post by **hackeysnacker** » 09 May 2006 20:36

stretch ur legs; hamstring, quadricep, calf, and your groin / hip region, play on a grippy surface, land on your toes, get lots of calcium.

Pengu · Post by **Pengu** » 10 May 2006 15:22

Sit in a chair and tap your toes repeatedly until it hurts. Do around 100 each leg each day.

hackeysnacker · Post by **hackeysnacker** » 10 May 2006 15:42

you're supposed to sit for that? if you stand does it have a different effect?

funklovesfootbag · Post by **funklovesfootbag** » 10 May 2006 23:17

Works standing too. I had pretty bad shin splints when I started playing and I think they've finally gone away.. I still get them the day after real hard sessions, but I no longer have to do toe taps. Do lots of toe taps, and man up. eventually they will go away.

Muffinman · Post by **Muffinman** » 14 May 2006 11:13

I had BAD shin splints years ago.
It hurt to land ANY trick, even butterflies, it felt like jamming needles into my shins every time I landed...it was unbearable and made me feel like I would collapse on impact.

Sam Colclough told me to get the Spenco insoles (some particular type...), and Sunil Jani told me to tap my toes. Both remedies worked AMAZINGLY and I never had shin splints again. I'm thinking that stair raises and lowerings would help with this too (where you stand with your toes on the edge of a step and lower your body down and up with heels hanging over the edge.) I was also told that icing and heating, alternatingly, would help, but I've never had much success with that. I think heating may be better for you, but I really don't know what I'm talking about there.

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 16 May 2006 06:55

Everything Erik said will fix your shin splints. I used to have them so bad i couldnt walk properly after sessions, for more than a year. Now i dont get them at all.

Also use the search function for more info. I feel like ive written shin splint advice on modified at least 10 times

Stefan · Post by **Stefan** » 16 May 2006 07:23

Do you mean taping does before/end of the session or just daily?

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 16 May 2006 18:51

hahah taping does

NOTE: Im not a doctor. I dont take any responsibility for this information im giving you or how it affects you. Just speaking from experience and what helped me beat shin splints.

You should do toe raises before, during and after sessions, they will help relieve pain while it hurts, and strengthen your muscles so that its less likely to hurt next time.
Sit on a chair with your feet flat on the ground, and lift your toes in the air while keeping your heel on the ground (ie. use the heel as a pivot). Raise and lower the toes repeatedly and you will start to 'feel the burn' in your shin muscles, which is good. You can do them rapidly or raise and lower them slowly, alternating left to right, whatever. This will help to strengthen your shin muscles.

Also do calf stretches to keep your calves nice and warm. What you are trying to get out of these stretches is a balance to your muscle usage in the shin and in the calf.
As far as im aware, Shin splints are caused by an imbalance of muscle use, where one muscle (usually the calf) becomes stronger than the shin muscle too quickly (like if you just started playing footbag for the first time and practise ALOT), so when you play, the calf muscle pulls on the leg harder than the shin muscle can deal with, and starts to pull the shin muscles away from the bone, causing one motherfucker of an inflammation

By strengthening the muscles you can avoid this pain and eventually be rid of it. You just have to do the stretches alot and be patient.

Also
* If you have Lavers, get new innersoles. They may be pricey but its worth it, the stock soles are shit
* Play on your toes as much as possible. This is good for your style and makes some tricks slightly easier, but will also definitely help protect your shins and your knees because you take the impact shock of hitting the ground, and cushion it with your whole leg, not just the shin.
* Go easy on concepts that hurt your shins, for now. These can include Stepping, symposium tricks, and spinning stuff inc. Torque
* You can also alternate sessions between hard concrete surface, and carpet surface. This will allow your muscles to strengthen because you are still playing, but will give them a rest from hard contact.

Dont stop playing altogether (maybe reduce the number or intensity of your sessions though, and dont play if it reeeally hurts) The unfortunate thing with shin splints is that despite the pain it brings, playing will help fix them too because it builds muscle strength. You just have to do the stretches all the time (when playing and when not) to make sure you are building all muscles.

Good luck!

Slowsis · Post by **Slowsis** » 31 Oct 2006 11:01

Foot tapping=WORKS AMAZINGLY!!!!!!!!

My recent bout with minor shin splints is now a thing of the past.

dan the man · Post by **dan the man** » 12 Jan 2007 11:07

just wondering can you do too many toe taps or stuff like that and make the problem worse? i heard somewhere that you can...

Stefan · Post by **Stefan** » 21 Jan 2007 11:03

I dunno dude, if you do toe taps you should stop when it starts to hurt. So dont push yourself past that point, it should prevent further injury.

ShredEX · Post by **ShredEX** » 28 Mar 2007 14:32

Thanks for the tips guys, now I have even more reason to "air drum" note I dont flail my arms just keep the beat with my feet.

professor · Post by **professor** » 30 Mar 2007 09:56

I don't get shin splints, but an exercise that really works out your calves and shins at the same time is speed walking. If you walk around your block as fast as you can, you'll definitely be feeling the burn. Remember to walk and not run. There should be minimal bouncing up and down.

If you're walking fast enough and you're doing it properly, after 5 minutes you should be in serious pain. Albeit good pain.

hacksterbator · Post by **hacksterbator** » 08 Apr 2007 22:10

Erik Chan wrote: I'm thinking that stair raises and lowerings would help with this too (where you stand with your toes on the edge of a step and lower your body down and up with heels hanging over the edge.)

No, it won't. the muscles you will be using for this will be you calf muscles (at the back of the leg) which will be shortening and lengthening against your body weight. By simply doing seated toe raises you work the muscles at the front of your lower leg. to increase the intensity add some weight to the tops of your feet towards your toes (tie them on or something), or if you have access to resistance bands/ tubing place the taught band over your toes and anchor the ends on the floor.

although the specific reasons for shin splint pain can vary, the usual cause is bone deformation, your bones felxing as you impact the ground. give your self some recovery time, switch to a softer surface and shorten your sessions. as things start to improve, start lengthening your sessions, and perhaps alternate between softer and harder surfaces, giving your bones a taste of the harder stuff. when you can play your usual session length on the soft surface, move to the hard stuff again, but play a little less and give your legs time to get used to it. slowly increase your playing time to full on the hard stuff and you shouldn't have a reoccurance.

Erik Chan wrote:...but I really don't know what I'm talking about there.

we all start somewhere...

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 09 Apr 2007 08:56

toe taps and metatarsal insoles.

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 09 Apr 2007 09:20

Toe taps always make splints go away for me.

Also, possibly the more important thing to note, lavers give me them RIGHT AWAY whereas climas have never caused them for me.

Just some food for thought.

ShredEX · Post by **ShredEX** » 09 Apr 2007 13:27

mosher wrote:Toe taps always make splints go away for me.

Also, possibly the more important thing to note, lavers give me them RIGHT AWAY whereas climas have never caused them for me.

Just some food for thought.

Lavers insoles basically=cardboard do yourself a favour and purchase some new insoles, or do as Tom does and kick in climas
To each their own.

Iron Clad Ben · Post by **Iron Clad Ben** » 17 Sep 2007 09:39

What I've learned in the past year or so of having shin splints:

They are caused by bad form. Bottom line. Some way or another you are not absorbing impact correctly. Your shin muscles and leg bones are absorbing the bulk of the impact, when it should be a combination of all your leg muscles (calves, quads, etc.). Your shin muscles are some of the smallest and weakest muscles in your legs, there's no way they should be doing all the work.

Toe taps, metatarsal insoles, MATS, soaking your feet. These are all good solutions for the SYMPTOMS. I've used all of them, they all have their merits. Heck even taking lots of Advil will make the symptoms go away. But it will NOT FIX THE CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM. You will be perpetually fighting them.

You have to change your form to absorb impact correctly. I created a topic called "Playing on your toes" in the trick tip section but the amount of bad and ambiguous (and therefore unhelpful) advice that was posted in there was pretty high. I would say pay attention to Dat's tips. He gave me some great advice 1 on 1 and now I am completely overhauling the way that I do clippers. Yes, it sucks starting over from square 1 on a basic fundamental trick, but the tradeoff of no more shin splints is totally worth it.

So you can keep doing toe taps, dropping hard earned $ on special gadgets or bags of magic beans to try to mitigate the symptoms. But it will not fix the problem. You've got fix your form, don't be afraid to ask for help on that.