[at-l] Shin Splints and physical training

[russ.drake at navy.mil (Drake, Russ SKCM)]

Thanks Platy,  I will give new stretch a try.  I came back from the doc,  she is going to make me an appointment with a doc in sports medicine.   She could not find anything wrong, not surprised.. she is a terrible physician IMHO.  But I am forced to see her... ug.. Socialized medicine SUCKS!

  But at least I talked her into letting me see someone else.  Until then I am SURELY going to give this a try.  I have 4 things I do already... The two standing stretches, the writing the alphabet with my toes in the air and sitting on my calfs and leaning back. 

  Thanks for the tip on the message,  I was doing the wrong way.. that may have made my condition worse..

Sparky!
 



-----Original Message-----
From: Platy Hiker [mailto:platyhiker@yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, July 18, 2003 10:17
To: at-l@mailman.backcountry.net
Subject: [at-l] Shin Splints and physical training


Sparky,

I saw your post shin splints, and I think I have some
information that may be helpful to you.  I have been
prone to shin splints, and the single best thing I
have found is properly stretching the muscle involved.
 It's much easier to demonstrate a stretch than to
explain it in words, but I'll give it my best attempt.

To stretch the right shin, stand on your left foot and
hold your right leg out in front of you with your knee
straight or nearly straight.  Your right toes should
be just a few inches off the ground and about 12
inches in front of your left foot.  Point your toes
downward as hard as you can.  Now, rotate your foot
and ankle as much towards the right as you can.  (Your
little toe should be closer to the the ground to than
your big toe is, but the foot as a whole is still
pointing forward.)  Lower your foot to the ground so
that your little toe is touching the ground.  *Gently*
use the pressure of your foot against the ground to
increase the rotation of the foot.  You should feel
muscle stretching along the outside of the shin and
along the upper part of the foot.  If you don't feel
anything, try to gently increase the amount of
pressure/rotation.  Hold for at least 30 seconds.

I find that it works best to stretch warmed up
muscles, so I hike for about 10 minutes, than stop and
stretch both shins for a total of 3 to 5 minutes.  (I
go back and forth between each of my feet several
times.)  If I've hiked hard, I also stretch again at
the end of the day (before the muscles are cooled
down).  It is also a good idea to stretch before and
after lunch (or any other significant pause in your
hike).

Before I learned this stretch, I sometimes got shin
splints bad enough to have me limping for days.  Since
then, I only get shin splints at times when I've
failed to stretch properly.  I do use one hiking pole,
but I don't think it really helps in prevention of
shin splints.  What I've read suggests that shin
splints are usually caused by excessive rolling of the
foot from one side to the other during the course of
each step (called over-pronation).  Some boots and
inserts can help reduce pronation.  Consumer Reports
had an article on running shoes a couple of years ago
that told what to look for in a sneaker depending on
whether you over-pronate, under-pronate or have
"normal" feet.  If you can find it at your library, it
would probably give you more understanding about your
feet and stride.

I thought of one other thing that may be helpful.  If
you do have a sore shins, massaging them the right way
makes a big difference.  The best technique I have
found is to make a fist and push my knuckles into the
muscle and move slowly down the whole length of the
muscle(s).  I start just below the knee and move
slowly down the whole shin and continue into the ankle
and upper foot.  What does NOT work very well is
massaging the muscle by squeezing it from the sides,
like between your thumb and fingers.  The explanation
that I was given is that the first technique spreads
the muscle fibers and allows the chemicals associated
with cramps and aches to be carried away from the
muscle, while the second technique makes the muscle
fibers even tighter.  Doing the massage after a good
stretch can feel really good.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Happy hiking,
Platypus

P.S. I removed the "OT" from the subject line, because
I think that this is *very* on-topic.  Shin splints
caused me a lot of problems when hiking until I
learned the stretch, and I've read of numerous AT
thru-hikers have problems with shin-splints at some
point during their hikes.


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