This video, I'm going to show you how to fix shin splint pain
in 30 seconds. Stay tuned!
Hey, everyone. Doctor Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in
Saint Joseph, Michigan. In this video, we're going to focus on
medial tibial stress syndrome commonly known as shin splints.
If you're unfamiliar with shin splints, it's where pain and
tenderness forms on the inner part of the lower leg towards
the shin bone also known as the tibia. It usually comes about
from weakness and tightness in the muscles that support the
lower leg. These include the tibialis anterior, the tibialis
posterior, and the calves. To make this easy, I'm going to
break the video up into three separate parts. In the first
part, we're going to focus on soft tissue tightness. Then,
we're going to focus on lengthening the muscles and
then, finally, strengthening them. All parts work just a
little bit differently. So, to get the best results, go
through all of them, use what gives you the most relief. As a
bonus, all of these exercises can be done at home require no
special equipment and you may find give quick shin splint
pain relief even within 30 seconds. So, let's get started
and fix those shin splints for good right now. In this part,
we're going to focus on getting quick pain relief by focusing
on tightness, tension, and stress in the muscles and the
soft tissue. This is known as gua sha or muscle scraping and
it can give relief within seconds. We just need a couple
of things. The first being a form of lubrication. I'm going
to be using coconut oil massage lotion but you can use any
muscle or massage lotions or creams that are designed to be
put on the skin. Next, we need a large metal spoon. You want
one with a little bit more thickness to it, you'll get
better results. Start off by coating the whole bottom leg
right here with that lotion or cream pretty much from the
ankle to the knee, on the outsides, front, and back.
We're going to focus on everything. So, let's start by
finding our contact point. If you take two fingers and pinch
on the long bone of the leg right here, that's the tibia.
What I want to do is pretty much pinch on that bone and
start to work my way downwards. When it comes to shin splint
pain. Generally, it's at the bottom third of the leg, the
distal end right here. So, as you pinch inward right here on
the medial aspect of the leg, you'll probably notice
discomfort pain possibly even lumps over that muscle and soft
tissue. Those are the spots that we want to make note of.
So, what I'm going to do from there is take my thumbs right
here and start to do a circular massage right into those lumps
or discomfort. I do this for about 10 to 15 seconds, relax,
and then repeat this three to times or until they break up.
You can also experiment with different motions. So, instead
of doing circular motions, you can do long strokes like this
up and down. You can do side to side. If any of those work
better, use that but I try to do that pretty much from my
ankle right here working my way up towards the knee, addressing
any spots that feel like it needs it and definitely do this
over the calf too and then the other side of the leg right
here finding any spots of discomfort. If you are having
pain directly over the tibia like feels like it's right in
the bone. I do recommend consulting with a local doctor
because it might be possible that you have a stress fracture
or you are beginning to form one and you definitely want
that to be addressed. So, afterwards, if you feel like
those pockets of tightness and pain are just not releasing,
we're going to take it to the next level by using our spoon
and we're going to do what is known as muscle scraping at
this point. So, with the spoon, it doesn't matter what part you
use. You can use the rounded portion to handle the tip,
experiment with it. Any portion that works a little bit better
for you, use it. I like to use the handle in the tip. So, what
I'm going to do is put the spoon roughly about 30 to 45
degrees. I'm going to press into that soft tissue. We are
going to avoid going over any bone. Only go over skin and
soft tissue and I'm going to apply enough pressure where
it's going to be a nice self massage and I'm going to scrape
or glide upwards. This right here can become very in tense.
So again, only to your comfort level. I'd like to go over one
spot for about five to 10 times. From there, I give it a
little bit of time to relax and you can do this another set or
two and then from there, what you're going to do is work your
way up. Again, going from the ankle all the way to the top of
the knee, hitting the calf muscle right here. Go on the
other side of the leg. All of this muscle or all these
muscles right here, they work together. So, make sure to
focus on all of em but afterwards, if feel like you
need a little bit more tension, you can then take it at
different angles. So, instead of going straight up with it,
go at the side right here but I do try to stroke upwards
towards the heart with this method right here. Experiment
again with using different parts of the spoon. If it feels
like it works a little bit better, definitely go with
that. Afterwards, what I like to do from there is put the
muscles into different positions to hit the muscle
fibers just a little bit differently. So, what I will do
is bring my foot back towards me, engage those muscles
including calf right here and then repeat this process you'll
notice that it hits the muscles just a little bit differently
so point your toes away from you do it bring the toes back
towards you you can put your foot inwards outwards any
movement that you feel causes discomfort and increases shin
splint pain you want to build into that motion and then
repeat this process until you feel that soft tissue start to
release but it's just a great way to really get in there
knock out soft tissue tightness and get very quick shin splint
pain relief In this part, we're going to focus on a lengthening
stretch that will help take tension and stress off the
muscles that might be associated with your shin
splint pain. This is known as a kneeling stretch. It's very
easy to do. It's best done on a floor but if your mattress is
firm enough, you might be able to do it in bed. So, what I'm
going to do is start off on my knees like this. Our legs are
going to be roughly hip width apart. I want my toes pointed
straight away from me. Once we're in that position, what
I'm going to do from there is slightly turn my toes inward
and then I'm going to lower my body downward towards my heels.
Kinda like taking my bottom towards my heels. The more that
you go down, the more that you're going to feel a deep
stretch forming in the front part of the leg. This one
really targets the tibialis anterior muscle right here on
the front part of the leg. Only go to your comfort level. If
you're not able to touch your heels, do the best you can. You
want a deep, comfortable stretch. Hold this one for 15
to 20 seconds. When you need relax, come back like this. I
try to do it for about three to five repetitions and with each
repetition, I focus on driving my body weight down just a
little bit more to help lengthen that soft tissue. If
you want to take this one to the next level because you're
just not feeling a deep enough stretch, what you can do from
there is then go with your hands, kind of put them right
in front of you like this, keeping your toes pointed down
and press down into the floor of the bed and then lifting up
on your knees like this and this a very deep stretch into
the front part of the leg. So, give that one a try. Again, a
22nd hold, relax, repeat this one three to five times, build
into it just a little bit more with each repetition. So, if
your goal is to not only get pain relief but get rid of shin
splints for good, your best bet is to strengthen the muscles
associated with it. I'm going to go over a strengthening
exercise that's going to target the calves and the tibialis
posterior. This one is best done on a staircase. So, when I
going to do is step up on a stair just like this. The ball
of my feet are going to be on. My heels are going to be off.
Let's start with a basic calf raise and if you do have
balance issues, you might want to go next to a wall also so
you can grab onto it if needed. So, what I'm going to do is
just drive my heels upward towards the ceiling as much as
I can. Really focusing on activating and firing those
calf muscles. You want to hold this for 5 seconds. From there,
I'm going to slowly come down and allow my heels to go down
towards the floor but I'm going to fight my body weight as I do
it. It should take about 5 seconds. You'll notice that
this hits the muscles just a little bit differently. When
you can't go down any further, then, you're going to come back
up and do that calf raise. Do this nice, slow, and controlled
for about 10 to 15 repetitions and with each repetition,
challenge yourself to build into it just a little bit more.
If you feel like you have a little bit more energy, you can
throw in another set or From there, I like to do what is
known as an eccentric. So, instead of going straight up
and down with it, I will put my body in a different position
and angle to target the muscles just a little bit differently.
So, swing off to the side like this. When you come down, also
swing down just a little bit. You can do circular motions.
Keep those muscles guessing because it will challenge them
and really focus on strengthening them through
different motions, dynamic movements that is and also, if
you do have one movement that really just sets that calf pain
off like let's say going towards the right for me throw
more repetitions in you always want to focus on building into
motions that feel weak or are causing discomfort because over
time you will strengthen those muscles and tendons and
hopefully eliminate that pain but do this whole cycle right
here for 10 to 15 repetitions, and you can throw in a couple
sets and if you do think that one spot needs more attention
throw it in and if you do want to take this one to the
next level do this one leg at a time. Just make sure whatever
you do on one side to do on the other to keep them both in
balance. So, after working on the calf muscles, I like to put
a little bit more focus on the tibialis posterior. This one is
pretty similar to the calf raise but what we're going to
do is put a tennis ball in between our heels. You can also
substitute it for a handball, anything that is round and
soft. You could probably use a dog toy if you have one laying
around. What I'm going to do, just put it between my heels,
squeeze into it until I to feel the muscles start to activate
in the front part of the leg. From there, I'm just going to
lift upwards with my heels putting all of my body weight
onto the ball of my feet. Lift up as much as you can. When you
do this, you should feel that tibialis posterior muscle
firing in the front part of the leg. Hold this one for 5
seconds. You're going to slowly come back down, relax, and then
repeat this 110 to 15 times. If you feel like you have a little
bit more energy, throw in another set or two. To take one
to the next level, you can do an eccentric movement. So,
instead of going straight up with it, go off to one side and
really focus on challenging those muscles in different
directions and if any of those directions feel weak, tight, or
painful, throw more repetitions in at that point. So, moving
on, we're going to focus on the tibialis anterior muscle. What
I'm going to do is go next to a wall for this one. You want to
put your feet out in front of you, angle your body slightly.
With this exercise, the more that you put your feet further
away from the wall, the it will be. So, start off by putting
them further away and at that point, if you feel that it's
too hard, just slide them back until you find a spot that you
are comfortable with. My legs are going to be roughly hip
width apart. I'm going to keep my knees straight and locked
during this exercise. We want our glutes or our bottom flush
against that wall. What I'm going to do is keep my back
straight and then hinge and pivot forward through my waist
until my shoulders and my upper back are not touching. I'm
going to put all of my body weight onto my heels and then
slowly raise my toes upward towards the ceiling. The more
that you go up, the more that you're going to feel that
tibialis anterior muscle start to fire right in the front part
of the leg. You want to activate that muscle, hold this
one comfortably for five seconds and then you're going
to slowly come down. Fight your body weight. Should take you
about three to five seconds until the ball of your feet
touch the floor. You can make this one more challenging by
not letting the ball of the feet touch the floor. Just let
it hover and hold that for a couple of seconds but you want
to do this whole process for about 10 to 15 repetitions just
nice and slow and with each repetition build into it just a
little bit more focus on challenging those muscles and
if you feel like you have a little bit more energy you can
throw in another set or two if the exercises help please
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