What are shin splints?
Medial tibial stress syndrome, or more commonly referred to as "shin splints" is an injury of the lower leg that is frequently seen in runners.
Usually described as a "dull ache" or "burn" along the border of your shin bone, shin splints are known to be painful when running (and for some sufferers, when they get out of bed). Does the bottom third of the inside of shin bone hurt to touch? This is another symptom, even if you experience pain higher up.
Shin splints tend to occur when you've had a sudden increase in your training load. Is that starting to sound like something you're experiencing?
How to treat shin splints
First, the old (and slow) way.
Being told you have shin splints as a runner is often a season ruiner. For most, it means stepping back and de-loading considerably so your body can heal. Rest was the single most important treatment for shin splints, but for athletes, rest is not ideal.
In addition to resting and developing a load management program, strengthening and stretching has also been linked to treating shin splints. Unfortunately, research shows that many sufferers do not achieve relief with these treatment solutions.
As former athletes ourselves, now a medical doctor, engineer and designer, we got extremely frustrated with the old way
The clinically validated way to run pain free, faster.
Clinically, the fastest way to treat shin splints is to do a combination of the following:
- A load management program
- Wear the Solushin medical orthosis 30 mins to 2 hours before or after training
In a clinical trial, subjects who combined load management with the Solushin returned to full-load training with no shin pain 5 times faster than those who used load management alone.
In addition to the above, you may want to do some calf strengthening exercises.
How does the Solushin work?
The Solushin works by:
- Compressing the area of pain and inflammation
- Compress three areas of high tension in your calf muscle (see the image for the pressure nodes)
There are a variety of reasons we do this. Where your shins hurt (the border of the shin bone), we see tenting of the periosteum. This inflammation compressed by a compressive member within the sleeve. Another risk factor in shin splint sufferers is poor dorsiflexion. Dorsiflexion is the act of raising your foot towards your shin. Poor dorsiflexion is not only reflective of a tight calf (soleus) muscle, but it also leads to poor running mechanics.
This method of treatment, combined with a load management program was shown to get shin splint sufferers back to pain-free running upwards of 5 times faster than load management alone.
Who uses the Solushin?
The Solushin is being used by leading clinics and teams in Australia to treat their athletes, as well as Australian's who are looking to treat shin splints from the comfort of their own home. If you purchase the treatment protocol online, you receive:
- A Solushin for the injured leg.
- A complimentary load management program with a goal of 3 x 6km runs per week with no shin pain. If this goal isn't suitable for you, we give you a direct line to the team who will work with you to achieve your goal.