Shin Splints????

Discussion in 'General Advice' started by IvyLB, Feb 22, 2016.

  1. IvyLB

    IvyLB Hardcore Vigilante Gay Chicken Facilitator

    I don’t fucking know why my legs keep doing the thing.

    I have a localized pain on both of my shins about on middle height and slightly more to the outside of the leg. It hurts to do pivotal/turning motions below the knee and is sensitive to impact on the vertical axis (walking/jumping). Generally feels like inflammation flare-up induced by strain but there’s literally NOTHING there that could be inflamed? The pain is like almost right ON the bone. (Can you tell I'm chronically ill yet by how precisely I can describe my pain? medical bs is fun)

    Google suggests it might be a shin splint, though i have literally zero idea where I could've gotten that. I haven't worked out in any of the suspect areas in over three years and the problem started occuring way after my last time attending a dance class. I have not recently started doing any exercises either.
    The only thing i'm doing is packing up shit and moving, which admittedly is putting a strain on my crippled frame.

    Does anyone have experiences with Shin Splints or similar and can help me with what the fuck to do? Anyone know if rheumatoid arthritis (spondyloarthritis being the most likely candidate for my subtype rn) can make somethign liek this more likely?
     
  2. paladinkit

    paladinkit brave little paladin

    I don't have a lot of advice about how this could have happened, but I do know what to do about them bc I was a runner when I was a wee sprog! Do some gentle toe-point stretches, massage the area, and try to reduce shock while walking (walking on soft surfaces or with well cushioned shoes - as runners, we'd run on the grassy areas instead of paved paths when we were suffering).
     
    • Like x 1
  3. IvyLB

    IvyLB Hardcore Vigilante Gay Chicken Facilitator

    i'll try. we have hardwood floors all over the flat and i never wear shoes in the house but i'll try to do the stretches and maybe massage the area with some arnika cream or something and hope it ebbs off. Wtf i never thought i'd ever get any kind of athletic thing omg. I'm... the opposite of athletic.
     
    • Like x 1
  4. Deresto

    Deresto Foolish Mortal

    this is probably not what it is, but have you started any new medications recently? i know specifically my grandma had to switch her blood pressure meds because of shin pain, and my aunt for whatever she takes for rheumatoid arthritis i think. it's more likely the walking on hardwood floors all the time though. i am not a doctor.
     
    • Like x 1
  5. oph

    oph There was a user here, but it's gone now

    Walking barefoot on hardwood floors could be it, actually. I was getting shin splints from walking in sandals last summer (so without proper arch support)
     
    • Like x 2
  6. prismaticvoid

    prismaticvoid Too Too Abstract

    Yup, you don't have to be especially active to get shin splints. Unfortunately I haven't found a particularly good way to deal with them either apart from painkillers, but making sure your shoes fit your arch correctly will help.
     
    • Like x 1
  7. oph

    oph There was a user here, but it's gone now

    Also, this is what a nurse told me regarding shin splints when I sent a message to my doctor about it:
    "-Cross friction ice massage for 5-10 minutes each time 3-4x/day. Supportive shoes with arch support (Super Feet or Montrail inserts). 2 Aleve 2x/day or ibuprofen 800 mg 3x/day with food and plenty of water-stop for GI upset. If you're a runner, stop running for now. PT if not improving."
    (I, uh, have done none of that, because I'm a terrible patient.)
     
    • Like x 1
  8. IvyLB

    IvyLB Hardcore Vigilante Gay Chicken Facilitator

    i have no fancy shoes with any kind of special arch support or whatever and no money to buy any (plus i'm vain and i will not wear ugly ass shoes even if they have to take my legs off otherwise. Fuck it. I'll be wearing pretty shoes even when they put me in the grave. Satan can put me in Birkenstocks :I) but will note that while i have a weird foot misposture thing going on it's not that i'm flatfooted. That is like the one part of my posture that is pretty good that I generally walk on the outsides of my sole.
    I've been walking barefoot on hardwood floors for over seven years it's not like that's new either? the only new medication i had recently was IV treatment with a thingy against inflammation, so that would be REALLY odd.
    i'm not allowed to take ibu anymore because it's to harsh on my stomach and i have prescribed painmeds to take and Should Not Mix. And cold things hurt me incredibly badly

    In conclusion: *loud whining*
    which is to say i'll see what i can do and i'm starting physio soon anyway so I could mention it then.
    BLEGH
     
  9. Ducks

    Ducks 79 Plural Fowl Illuminates The Legendary

    all the women on my mum's side are prone to shin splints. The best solution I found was good insoles- $20 a pair and you can just put the same pair in all your pretty shoes. When it does flare up I found the aforementioned icing and massage helped, but it's really hard to massage your own shins effectively so grab a lackey and look for some sports physio diagrams for massages they can do to help.

    ETA: reread your last post and oh good you're starting physio, they'll help determine if it is shin splints (SOUNDS LIKE IT) and help with the massage/stretches
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2016
    • Like x 2
  10. oph

    oph There was a user here, but it's gone now

    Yeah, if you can afford/find a pair of insoles, like Dr. Scholl's or something, that'd probably help a lot. I'd bet that it's the packing and moving stuff that's causing it right now -- I'm not a doctor but since the issue is shock related, adding weight to the impact your shins are taking seems a likely culprit. If so, then it'll probably go away once you're done with moving.

    Definitely bring it up when you start physio though, they'll be way more qualified to help than me
     
    • Like x 1
  11. budgie

    budgie not actually a bird

    FWIW my sister wound up needing insoles because she walks on the outsides of her feet, and I wound up needing them because my arches are actually pretty high, so being flat-footed is definitely not the only reason they could help. I get by just fine with the mass-produced sort, whereas sister needs custom-made, but they're still the sort you can slip into your shoes.
     
    • Like x 3
  12. IvyLB

    IvyLB Hardcore Vigilante Gay Chicken Facilitator

    things that have been helping: taking a bath with balm oil, rubbing/massaging the area with cooling devil's claw gel. the latter, however hurts my fingers because cold so :')
     
  13. Ducks

    Ducks 79 Plural Fowl Illuminates The Legendary

    Try massaging with plain oil. The manual pressure might be helping more than the cooling effect. Follow with a cold pack or the devils claw (I'm curious about the mechanism for cooling there though. If it's added menthol I doubt it is doing anything except irritating your skin)
     
  14. IvyLB

    IvyLB Hardcore Vigilante Gay Chicken Facilitator

    it does have added menthol, BUT it's not irritating. Like at all. The point is also really more the anti-inflammatory agent from the devil's claw. I have heating devil's claw gel as well which i think has added chilli or something but it's pretty damn hot and very uncomfortable for me TuT
    I can really not do cold stuff at all. Like i feel cold right down into my bones and cold packs are a reliable way to make parts of me stiff as a board for half a day. the gel is really about the only thing i can barely deal with.
    blargh. I have no idea what i'm doing. i might try out wraps with herb mush and a thick layer of arnika creme next because no one can help me with massages and i can't build up enough pressure with my own hands. If I just draw out the inflammation for now the rest will hopefully stop being a problem.
     
  15. Ducks

    Ducks 79 Plural Fowl Illuminates The Legendary

    Ahk, then perhaps massage with regular oil and then apply the cooling gel? it doesn't seem like it needs friction as a mechanism to work.
     
  16. IvyLB

    IvyLB Hardcore Vigilante Gay Chicken Facilitator

    As i said, massages are hard to do right now, bc I have cripple hands and my parents are busy and my brother is in school and won't help bc he's a bit of a jerk this week (puberty c':)
     
  17. Ducks

    Ducks 79 Plural Fowl Illuminates The Legendary

    I missed that sorry. I hope you find a solution. Mine is flaring up at the moment and it's such a pain to deal with on your own even with good massage hands.

    Ahhh puberty.
     
    • Like x 1
  18. Chiomi

    Chiomi Master of Disaster

    Low potassium can sometimes do it! (http://www.livestrong.com/article/445056-shin-pain-caused-by-low-potassium/ is not particularly academic, but does corroborate)

    The specifically middle of the shin, slightly to the outside, worse with twisting, not relieved by stretching, bright sharp twangy pain is the one I'm familiar with as the low potassium thing. Bananas or banana chips (banana a day for a few days or a handful of banana chips) can be an easy way to experiment without going through extensive physician-supervised testing. I've found that a couple days of higher potassium usually fixes it, but I'm kind of ridiculous.
     
  19. IvyLB

    IvyLB Hardcore Vigilante Gay Chicken Facilitator

    Thanks! I kinda dont like bananas that much/i get sick of them very quickly. But right now im better! Now my knees feel like theyre dissolving because of walking stairs in the new house (living in the basement does result in lotsa stairs walked every day) but i know why that is, lol
     
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