Shin Splits Exercise Treatment

Back in the day when I was a strapping young lad I ran quite a bit. I also had occasional problems with shin splints. Shin splints is (are?) a very painful response to high-impact exercise which makes it difficult, if not impossible, to run.

Disclaimer

I'm no longer a strapping lad, nor am I a doctor (though I'm handsome enough to play one on TV). Follow my advice at your own risk. I doubt you can hurt yourself doing what I suggest, but if you do it's not my fault! So there! Nyaa!

The Method

I was very fortunately to have been taught a highly effective treatment and prevention for this terrible malady. I can't remember the exact circumstances, but I think she said she learned it from her yoga teacher. I don't know if it's yoga, but it's simple and it worked very well for me:

1. Stand with your feel approximately shoulder-width apart
   
2. Slightly bend your knees
3. Bend at the waist and rest your hands just above one knee - you might find it helpful to place the opposite foot slightly behind you to help with balance
4. On the side you're leaning on, keeping your heel on the ground, raise your toes as high as you can.
5. Repeat raising your toes until you cannot raise it any more. (If you already have shin splints, this will be somewhat painful)
6. Turn the same foot as far to the left as you can and raise your toes as many times as you can.
7. Turn the same foot as far to the right as you can and raise your toes as many times as you can
8. Switch your hands to the other leg and repeat steps 4-7.

This exercise can also be used as part of your warm up to help prevent shin splints, too.

The key to this exercise is to strengthen the muscles which pull your toes up when your heel is on the ground. This relieves the pressure off the tendons which attach to the shin. It's this pressure which causes shin splint pain.

If you suffer from shin splints, give this a shot. If nothing else, it can't make things any worse.