+1 to shoes for your stride. And change them before too much mileage.

Ice baths really work magic on shin splints

take a tennis ball to your tibia, its hard to do but seems to work for me, usually when too much down hill running takes place.

i hate shin splints, they SUCK!

best of luck.

A really helpful thing is to freeze water in dixie cups. When you are done with your race, take one out, ripe away the top part of the cup to expose the ice and use it to massage your shins. Feels great!!!

[quote=mwconstruct1972]Quality shoes for your type of stride, orthotic inserts if necessary, adequate rest, slower mileage build up (10% rule). [/quote]
This method worked for me. I got shin splints all the time when I was younger, but as I've gotten older, I've had to really get smarter with the way I train. And somewhere along the way, I stopped getting the shin splints. I haven't had them now in maybe 10 years.

Make sure you're running in shoes that fit your feet and gait; also, isolate your stretching.

[quote=vistring]take a tennis ball to your tibia, its hard to do but seems to work for me, usually when too much down hill running takes place.[/quote]
This is almost the opposite of what I was going to suggest. Instead of massaging the front of your leg, massage the back. From what I understand about shin splints, it's the calf and soleus area becoming so tight, that it pulls where the muscles attach to the bone (on your shin). If you relax the muscles in the back, the pulling in the front stops. There's a few products available to work the soleus and calf (like a tennis ball). I use something from Trigger Point Performance. It's more expensive than the other stuff I've seen, but it's cheaper than a masseuse every day.

I'm not suggesting that a tennis ball on the tibia is bad. It may help in addition to, or even more than what I was thinking.

Actually massaging the muscles are the worst thing you can do as it jut irritates the injury even more. Shin splints are essentially spinters of bone the get snag in the muscle as it rubs. Kind of like silk panties getting snagged againt the palm of your hands if they are not smooth.

If you ask a doctor they will say to stop running. However, we know that won't work for most of us. The best advice I can say is cut down on the milage and intensity and plenty of ice on top of the legs. Also going longs periods of time without running isn't the greatest. You need to be consistent in running to eliminate them from returning.

shin splints are horrible. I had them at the beginning of training for the Indy Mini. I bought a new pair of Asics and that helped immediately. Other than that, rest, ice 3 times in an hour after running, and ibuprofin for the inflammation should help. Also, make sure to warm up appropriately.

also, strength training helped. leg press and calf raises.

[quote=jarhead]Actually massaging the muscles are the worst thing you can do as it jut irritates the injury even more. Shin splints are essentially spinters of bone the get snag in the muscle as it rubs.[/quote]
Q. What do you think causes those pieces of bones to splinter?
A. My understanding is that muscles pulling on the bone cause it.

Q. Why do the muscles pull on the bone?
A. Because they tighten up when running.

Q. How can we make those muscles less tight?
A. Stop running or massage the muscles. Here's what may be confusing.

Q. Do you want to massage the small muscle at the point where it attaches to the bone (at your shin), or do you want to massage the big calves and solius muscles that pull the smaller muscles?
A. If I had a rope with two knots, and I wanted the rope to be longer, I'd take the big knot out first. If the small knot was on top of sensative splinters of my bones, I'd just leave it alone. In other words, loosen the big muscles up, and ice the small muscles.

Here is a link from about a year ago on the site that talks about shin splints and has some good recommendations. http://trifuel.com/forum/17417/training-through-shin-splints

Good luck.

Stress fractures aren't usually the cause. Most likely it's the overstretching of the tibialis anterior muscle from the contraction of the grastrocnemius and soleus (calf muscles and likely a combination of planting your heel causing the anterior muscles to overstretch). One interesting thing about muscles and tendons is that despite the amazing strength of our bones, the bone will break long before a ligament tears out of the bone. Inflamation of the anterior periosteum (the covering of bones) is another cause but not as common. It is very hard to splinter bone and you are more likely to overstretch your muscles before you break a bone.

If it is a stress fracture then you need a couple months rest. If it is just an overstretched muscle then a few days rest. You can apply ice before and after training. Take aspirin or ibuprofen (anti-inflammatory). Whirlpool is recommended . (the mentioned before is paraphrased from the American Medical Association Medical Encyclopedia on shin splints).