SHIN SPLINTS - Looking for a shin splints cure? Maybe I can help.
My name is Alex and I have been running now for over 3 years without the return of my shin splints, currently I average 12 miles a week of running.
For years I would run 5k & 10K races ignoring the pain that would follow. Post race it felt like someone was stabbing my shins everytime I took a step, it would take literally weeks to recover and valuable training time was lost.
After I got into my late twenties I started to research the issue and try various solutions of cure none of which worked.
- Chiropractic adjustment.
- Massage before and after races.
- Custom insoles for my shoes.
It became very frustrating and my mileage dropped off. Then in my late 30's I went to seek treatment for general pain I was having. This was the turning point for me journey.
So what was the cure I hear you ask? To cure Shin Splints Pain it took several steps.
STEP 1 - Relax External Muscles - Especially Abdomen
First of all I was introduced to Kristina Pearson who did acunpuncture, cranial sacral and other treatments. She worked with me to overcome the injuries from my physical history some of which are listed below as examples
- Rugby
- Motorcycle and car wrecks
- Military
You will probably find similar incidents in your life.
It was physically a very painful experience to have the tension released from my muscles caused by my physical history as she worked through the treatment. When I returned to the running track after a few months of treatment, I noticed that my style had changed and become more upright and relaxed. My 2 mile run around the track did not end up in shin splints the next day.
What effectively had happened was that muscles in my body had been tense in some areas (specially for me in the abdomen where I had a 6 pack) and she guided me through releasing that tension. Amongst other things, she taught me to breathe to the area of my body that had tension and relax it. Prior to the treatment, when I ran my tense muscles prevented my body from using its natural bio mechanics and this caused physical stress resulting in shin splints. An initial downside to the relaxing of the muscles was that I lost my 6 pack and gained about 5% in weight. The weight was quickly lost by running but I have held off the return of the 6 pack for fear that it could affect my running style.
Step 2 - Clean up your innards
Even though my external muscles were now relaxed, internally I would run into issues that would cause leg pain leading to shin splints. After a day of sitting at work, it would sometime be painful for me to walk. Initially I thought it was the sitting, however my research led me to taking twice daily doses of Cream of Tartar. This was a prescribed solution for pains up until the 20's in Europe. Supposedly it cleans Yeast out of your system which can cause internal bloating that leads to pressure on your spinal column / abdomen muscles and thus leg pain / shin splints.
Step 3 - Change your diet
After using Cream of Tartar for several weeks a surprising thing happened. Suddenly I was able to quickly identify foods and drinks that I was allergic too ( Remember that the allergic reaction could cause bloating or tenderness which would affect my running style leading to shin splints). Prior to this I had not known I was allergic to them since my body was fighting off all the other junk inside it. Now that it was somewhat clean, when I added a food or drink that I was allergic to, the allergic reaction was quickly and easily noticed. Slowly but surley I changed my diet which for me involved the removal of Wheat Products, Cow's Milk products etc.. and reduced me to one type of beer that I could drink.
I hope that these steps give you some hope as to your Shin Splints for the certainly solved my Shin Splints. If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them and I will respond as able.
Alex July 2009
