Shin splints or Exertional compartment syndrome

[HeatherH27]

I used to experience medial pain related to the bone (sore to press) which was diagnosed as shin splints.

This has calmed down and I am now experiencing excruciating pain in the anterior tibialis muscle when exercising which calms down around 30 mins after stopping the exercise. The pain gets so bad I can hardly use the muscle to lift my feet to step...I end up foot slapping the ground.

What can I do?

[davelinks Graduate]

R.I.C.E. try a foam roller on it...see a doctor?

[Madge50 Graduate]

Hi there, going from your other post, it looks like you need specialist advice, this forum is full of immensely helpful people, but is no substitute for seeing properly qualified people who will need to fully assess your issue..... as davelinks says, maybe it's time for a doctor.....

Good luck, hope you find a solution.

Mx

[misswobble Graduate]

Er physio! The inflammation needs to be sorted out. You can't foam roll tissue that is inflamed! The pain is from the inflammation, which has to be brought under control in the first instance. I would stop running and seek treatment.

See your GP and hopefully you will get a referral to an NHS physio. Get some ice packs going in your freezer, lots of them, use Marge tubs, etc. Get your poorly leg up as often as poss and play ice over the painful part. A block of ice lasts about 14 minutes. Get some towels under you 😀 Your GP can give you some higher strength anti inflammatories but be aware it takes a while for the anti inflamm effect to kick in but the pain killer element will be welcome I suspect 🙂 They only work when your muscles are at rest though, so taking two immediately before sleep is a good plan.

It,s all about strengthening! My treatment was just physio once the pain was under control. I did foot lifts, calf raises with ankle drops, gradually increasing in time and reps over,four weeks. I,did some kind of forward lunge as well. I didn't run at all. I used the foam roller ONLY when the pain was over, and only as demonstrated by the physio. No more than a minute.

I started running when the physio was happy but only for 2 mins every third day. Slow job but I was delighted 😀 I switched to a lower drop shoe as well

Good luck. I hope you will get better soon 😀