Shin splints in left leg only. PLEASE HELP

Hey guys,
So I am in a very annoying dilema here. Everytime I run I get terrible shin splints in my left leg and my right leg is fine. Yes I am stretching and warming up as well. I got new shoes which were fitted to me so that is not the problem either. They start very early into when im running and do not go away and are impossible to run with. I noticed that my left foot kind of comes inwards too when I run instead of rolling to the inside from the outside. Let me know if any of you guys had the same, any sufficient help will be rep'd. Thanks!

I had "Spiked heels" and for the longest time I thought it was a shin splints. What had happened was I was taking in to much Calcium and it had dumped it onto my heels and caused it to form spikes and as you can imagine didn't feel good running. The pain was so intense it felt like it was coming from my shins when it was really coming from my heel.

This was fixed by wearing a plastic heel cup inside my shoes daily for a couple of weeks. Hopefully this isn't the case and if it is at least its an easy fix!

Try to run on softer surfaces like grass that ought to help some. First though, you should probably replace running with low to no impact cardio (e.g. swimming, biking, or rowing) for a bit (unless they are really bad, I think a week would be fine) to allow for sufficient recovery. Be sure to ice after each session. Additionally, make sure your running form is solid with both feet, so that you are running on the balls of your feet as opposed to off your heels.

Shin splints are caused by an imbalance between your calf muscle and tibialis. You get shin splits for generally these two reasons:

1, Tibialis is weak, constantly fighting much more dominant calf muscle. Some exercises to help this are writing the alphabet on the ground with your toes or laying a towel out and crinkling it up with your toes, then trying to push it back out.

2, You're a foot slapper, you don't roll your foot heal to toe. This can be caused by shoes where the heal sticks too far back or are flat footed too. Bad shoes make the heal hit prematurely in your step and causes the rest of the foot to slap down. This causes sudden stretch/strain on your tibalis as if your calf were completely overpowering it in repeated fasion.

The only thing that has ever remedied it for myself is cutting back on running to where it didn't hurt anymore and then working my way back up in different shoes. True story.

You may also want to try (although gradually since it is stressful at first) running barefoot or with flats. Something without an elevated heel, that is light and doesn't have all these support thingies.

You will be forced to run softer instead of pounding.

I had shin splints in both legs. I got prescription orthotics and specific shoes for my foot type. I have flat feet. Reguardless of what I did, nothing helped. Pain killers help, but it does not get rid of hte real problem unless all of the inflamation is ridded. Depending on where your shin splints are posterior or anterior, you could have different problems, and thus need different remedies. A high or no foot arch can lead to shin splints as can overpronation or supination. See a foot doctor, or a doctor with sports team experience, they may be able to help you more. I have had shin splints for about 2 years now, however at times they do seem to get better.

[QUOTE=AwesomeusPrime;364925451]I had "Spiked heels" and for the longest time I thought it was a shin splints. What had happened was I was taking in to much Calcium and it had dumped it onto my heels and caused it to form spikes and as you can imagine didn't feel good running. The pain was so intense it felt like it was coming from my shins when it was really coming from my heel.

This was fixed by wearing a plastic heel cup inside my shoes daily for a couple of weeks. Hopefully this isn't the case and if it is at least its an easy fix![/QUOTE]


im pretty sure its not this. When i run within the first 5 minutes it feels like my left ankle is going numb and becomes very tight. It feels like a dead weight on my foot and i cant pull my foot up. It feels like im just dragging my foot. My shin feels very very tight also.

wow. just ran barefoot on my treadmill and NO SHIN SPLINTS. Ran 2 miles with no problem. If anyone knows why this is please help me out? Maybe its the weight of the shoes or the shoes in general?

no elevated heel or other funky stuff in shoes. Don't go overboard with the barefoot running, build up to it so you don't get an injury.

[QUOTE=stracin;364943441]Shin splints are caused by an imbalance between your calf muscle and tibialis. You get shin splits for generally these two reasons:

1, Tibialis is weak, constantly fighting much more dominant calf muscle. Some exercises to help this are writing the alphabet on the ground with your toes or laying a towel out and crinkling it up with your toes, then trying to push it back out.

[/QUOTE]

This....same thing happened to me....one thing I did was attaching a strap attachment to a low cable and doing "reverse calf raises"....thats the best way I can describe it.