how can i cure my shin splints, and still continue to do gymnastics on a daily basis?

Question

i am on my highschool gymnastics team. i practice 5-6 days a week for 2-3 hours at a time.i recently learned i have shin splints from landing my beam dismount, floor tumbling, and vault. what can i do to ease the pain and also work to cure it?

Answer 1

the good thing is that shin splits don't affect athletic preformance, they just hurt, a LOT.

You gotta ice your shins twice a day, 20 minutes each time. I'm in high school too, and in the athletic trainer's office he's got a crushed ice maker, don't be afraid to put ice directly on your shins, because you'd need to put ice on for a VERY long time to get frostburn.

Secondly, do some shin excersizes. Walk on your heels to reduce the pain before you work out, and do toe taps to strengthn your muscle. Like, tap your toe for like 30 seconds straight and you should feel a burn.

Answer 2

Treatment for shin splints includes rest, massage, ice, stretching, and strengthening. Rest and ice is sometimes the best treatment. You should also be stretching your calves and Achilles tendon real well. If you have the problem during running or walking, try warming up more and don't increase the speed too quickly. You can also try varying the speed and elevation of the treadmill if you use one instead of keeping it the same.

To stretch your calves:

1. Lean against a wall with one leg forward and the knee bent.
2. Keep the rear leg straight, heel on the floor.
3. Keep your back straight and lean your hips forward until you feel a stretch in your calf. If you don't feel it too much, put your toe of the rear leg up on a tree limb, or a dumbbell, or any other small object, so that you bend the ankle more. Your heel always remains on the floor. That will increase the stretch.
4. To stretch the soleus muscle and Achilles (very important for shin splints), do the same calf stretch but bend the back knee slightly and you will feel the pull on your Achilles tendon.

When you stretch, make sure to hold the stretch until you feel looser and not just for 10-15 seconds. The point to stretching is to stretch the muscle, so hold it until you feel stretched.

Also make sure your shoes are sturdy and give you lots of support, particularly in the arch. If your shins hurt you should gently massage them and then ice them after you work out.

Answer 3

Shin splints are painful but they can be treated if you strengthen a muscle. The muscle that is not strong enough is the Tibialis Anterior. This muscle lies next to the shin bone, tibia, and gets pulled away from the bone. Use ice on the area for fifteen to twenty minutes per hour. Stretching is done by sitting on the heels and bringing one knee up as high as possible. Return the leg to the ground and do the opposite leg. Do this five to ten times per leg. To strengthen the muscle do the following. Sit on the heels and attempt to pull the front of the foot up. There will be no movement but it does strengthen the muscle isometrically. The next two are difficult and take time to master. Squat on your feet. The trick to this is having the heels flat on the ground. This will make the muscle work hard to maintain your balance. Try to hold that position for one minute. The next is a yoga position called Downward Facing Dog. The trick here is to get the buttocks to push backwards as far as possible and at the sametime keep the heels down. Here again this makes the muscle work hard to keep the heels in contact with the ground. Lastly get a 2x4 or a large book of that size. Place the heels on the board or book and lay an ankle weight across a foot. Slowly lift the front of the foot up as high as possible ten times rest and repeat that cycle twice more. Switch feet and work the other foot the sameway. Within a few days there will be a noticable difference. Keep using the ice especially after running or exercising.

Answer 4

Get surgical tubing that you can wrap around a chair or something solid, make a loop at the other end then do reps of 10-12 three different directions, back toward you, left, and right, three sets of each as a warm up before practice. After practice get some dixie cups, fill them with water and freeze them. Peel the paper cup down and ice where it hurts for about ten minutes each. If possible after about two weeks or so of this try to get some sort of massage on them, it hurts pretty bad but it really is the fininshing touch to getting rid of them. To prevent them for the future, do toe taps for 25-30 seconds while standing during a workout or if you're just standing around. Ask your coach if they have any suggestions too.

Answer 5

You really need to read "Stop Shin Splints" by Gary Buchenic (also available in electronic format here: http://www.shinsplintscure.org ). It's about how to permanently cure your shin splints naturally. Worked for me and for thousands of people. Good luck!

Answer 6

you need to rest for about 2 days before doing any more physical activity on your legs...you can still do cardio on a bike if you don't push it too hard. while resting soak your shins in ice water for 30-60 mins up to 4 times a day. After your rest period--after workouts then soak your shins for 20 mins. This should help you.

Answer 7

I deal with this problem quite often. Here are some methods that have worked in the past.
Ice down your shins after each workout.
stretch out your shins prior to each workout.
when you have flair ups take an anti inflammatory like Motrin or naproxen.

Answer 8

Take a quality multiple vitamin/mineral supplement. Also, take added calcium/magnesium & vitamin D.