Hey guys, Dr. Axe here, doctor of natural medicine and founder of DrAxe.com.
In this video, I'm going to share with you how to get rid of shin splints fast.
And I'll tell you, I'm a person that struggled with shin splints for years.
I'm a triathlete, and anytime I would run, I would get chronic shin splints.
In fact, sometimes they got so bad I couldn't even run 10 feet without excruciating pain.
So in this video, I'm going to share with you the best diet, supplements, natural treatments,
and other things that you can do to start to get rid of shin splints fast.
And if you follow my advice here, I guarantee you are going to get rid of them and have
better performance than you've ever had.
Step number one is, you need to spend some time resting it, and we need to really kind
of re-up the healing process.
So if you've got shin splints, I'd recommend you do some soft tissue work on the area in
doing three things you can consider.
There's a technique called Graston, that's G-R-A-S-T-O-N, Graston.
They actually take a stainless steel instrument and they go up and down, working on the fascia.
So a lot of times people worry about the muscle, and get into the muscle and dig in and do
massage there, and that's definitely beneficial, but a lot of times we need to work on healing
the fascia, and that's what Graston does.
So Graston Technique, you can just look up "Graston practitioner Dallas, Texas" or "Graston
practitioner Minneapolis, Minnesota" and you'll find someone who does Graston in your area,
or "ART," that's Active Release Technique.
And it's the best if they can do both, Graston and ART, on you.
ART works on the muscle, Graston works on the fascia.
It's a great thing to do.
And also, getting your own foam roller at home.
You can start getting a foam roller, and you can simply go up and down on your shins.
You'll want to do that for about a minute-and-a-half on each shin, or up to two minutes max on
each shin.
You don't want to go over that because then you can start to cause injury, but about two
minutes to your shins there, once to twice daily.
Now, in terms of diet, here's what you want to do.
You want to get plenty of magnesium and proteolytic enzymes and Omega-3s in your diet on a regular
basis.
Now, proteolytic enzymes are found in certain types of fruit, such as kiwis, figs, pineapples,
papaya.
They actually help reduce inflammation.
And so doing a couple kiwi a day for your fruit is a great thing to do.
Also, the herb ginger contains proteolytic enzymes.
And so, again, doing ginger is great.
You can drink ginger tea two to three times daily or take a ginger supplement, but ginger
along with fruit such as pineapple.
If you're out there running and trying to do a recovery drink, pineapple juice mixed
with coconut water is fantastic.
But again, that's what I would be doing on a regular basis, is getting some of those
fruits with the proteolytic enzymes, and you can also take a proteolytic enzyme supplement.
Look for things like bromelain, papain, actinidain, and ficain which is found in figs, those sort
of supplements.
The next thing you want to get are Omega-3s in your diet, eating wild-caught salmon several
times a week.
Black cod, wild-caught tuna, these are Omega-3 rich fish, which are great for your body,
and taking a fish oil supplement or an Omega-3 supplement, you want to be taking on a daily
basis, are fantastic.
And then, getting more magnesium.
Magnesium is known as your relaxation mineral.
It's going to help relax those muscles.
So you can simply do a Google search right now for "Dr. Axe magnesium foods" and I have
an article I recently wrote on all of the top 20 magnesium-rich foods you should be
getting in your diet on a regular basis, such as spinach, dark chocolate, pumpkin seeds,
and a whole lot more you'll find in that article.
So look up "magnesium rich foods," but those are three of the foods and supplements you'll
want to focus on.
And probably the most beneficial super-food and supplement is bone broth, getting bone
broth and collagen supplements.
Bone broth contains proline, which helps with connective tissue repair, helps strengthen
the tendons and ligaments.
So make sure you're getting bone broth on a regular basis.
You can add bone broth powder to a smoothie, or just drinking bone broth, doing a bone
broth soup on a regular basis.
But, I would do bone broth on a regular basis, as well.
The next thing you want to do is really work on your running form.
For a lot of people, we're not running correctly.
I would maybe see a running coach for just one or two lessons.
They can look at your running form and how you're running.
Here's another big thing, is you want to do some cross-training.
One of the biggest reasons . . . and, by the way, this is me personally.
I got put in orthotics, which never worked.
In fact, I don't think that's a beneficial thing to do.
I feel like it's kind of trying to treat the symptom, not the actual cause of your shin
splints.
So what I would do, one thing that worked for me, is working on doing exercises that
strengthen the muscles opposed to the shin or help support that area.
And so for me, it was Egoscue and then doing proprioceptive and balance exercises.
So Egoscue is a type of exercise to where they're working on strengthening, maybe your
calves, maybe muscles in your feet, different areas of your body.
It just takes stress off that anterior tibialis muscle or the muscles of the shin because
what's happening when you're getting shin splints, you're overworking the area.
So a proprioceptive exercise is you standing on one foot like this, working on looking
left, looking right, maybe closing your eyes, but working on balancing.
That's something we hardly ever do today, is work on balance, and balance, when you're
balancing, you're using what are called intrinsic or deep muscles that actually are going to
help relieve some of that pain you're getting from shin splints.
And some of these exercises are things you'll do, let's say, in a yoga class or a barre
class.
If you do yoga, like a Hot 26 class, you're going to be doing balancing exercises, working
on proprioception.
You do a barre class, you're doing certain things to help strengthen the calves and the
intrinsic muscles within your feet.
So again, yoga and barre are great cross-training exercises to do if you're getting shin splints
or shin splints from running on a regular basis.
But, I'd recommend, again, Egoscue practitioner, and I'd recommend doing yoga and Pilates,
or, I'm sorry, yoga and bar.
Those things are going to help those muscles, as well.
And then, here's the other thing.
When you're not running, wear barefoot shoes, okay?
Whether it's Merrell's or Vibram bottoms, or something like that, wear shoes that don't
have a lot of support, that are barefoot.
When you're running, though, wear something that has more support and more cushioning.
For the most part, that's really what I recommend you do.
If you're doing a lot of long runs, more cushioning but a neutral shoe for most people.
And if you are walking around, just around your house on a daily basis, go barefoot or
get barefoot shoes because that's going to help strengthen all those muscles, as well,
and help work on your form.
So I guarantee, if you can follow these top tips I just shared with you, you're going
to see fantastic results in getting rid of shin splints fast.
By the way, I just recently wrote an article on this with a lot more detailed information.
If you do a Google search right now for "Dr. Axe shin splints," or go visit DrAxe.com,
you'll find more detailed information right now.
And hey, don't forget to subscribe here to the YouTube channel.
I've got a lot more natural cures and remedies coming out here real soon.