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I suffered badly from shin splints years ago and went through progressively more built up running shoes and then custom orthotics trying to get rid of them. The net result was shin splints plus additional problems!
Then I thought about the nature of the problem, which in my case was the over-pronation which essentially is an incorrect motion that the shoes and orthotics are trying to prevent, but forcing a rigid biomechanic as a result. So I got a pair of neutral shoes and spent a couple of months on a treadmill in front of the mirror concentrating on trying to eliminate the over-pronation and gradually building up the time to allow everything to adapt and ensure that it became my natural motion.
It worked and I now run fine with neutral shoes over any distance/ surface so it's worth considering if you run into the same problems again.
welpeur-
thanks. I think the shin splints were caused by 3 days of longer off road runs though, my lower leg wasnt used to working so hard! All seems fine now - it took three weeks to get back on track.
I'm a fore/mid foot runner and wear neutral shoes already, but sounds like I had a similar experience to you. About 5/6 years ago I managed to sever my big toe tendon in my left foot, get a sciatic nerve inflammation where I couldnt use my leg at all and then have a major 5-days-in-hospital bike crash, all in the space of a six months. As well as other problems, my gait was all messed up (I couldnt walk 100m never mind run to start with).
I went down the stability shoe and the expensive custom orthotic route, only to come to the conclusion that that stuff causes more problems that it solves. Lots of time spent stepping forward and back in front of a mirror along with strength and mobility work got my lower leg strength up to scratch and my hips able to place the foot on the ground safely.
cookiemonster
Good luck - hope the mri gives a conclusive result
I’m 3 weeks on from shin splints and seemingly back to normal. Did some gym work yesterday and couldn’t detect any difference between left and right so going to try a couple of miles tomorrow.
Shin splints were massively painful though and one of these injuries that affects day to day life. Another wake up call that I need to do more than just aerobic stuff and do lower body gym, yoga or Pilates a couple of times a week.