Mick's up With Some Questions

Here's a change for you...
You will not gain any useful information from this blog post.  It consists solely of questions for you.  I would like to know what you have to say.

This is a great week for this, because it is Listening Week.  So, I am listening to you.

I need your help!

Any advice here will be in the comments you leave for me.

So, here it goes.

My question is about shin splints.  Do you have any words of wisdom for me? 

I have dealt with shin splints for as long as I can remember, but I thought it was only from over-exertion and lack of stretching.  So, I didn't let it bother me.  However, when I started getting into jogging a few years back, the pain got so bad that I could not even touch my shins without nearly screaming. My chiropractor's advice was to rub ice on them.  Ugh!  I cringe to this day, thinking about it.  Yet, here I sit, icing my shins, while I write.  Granted they aren't as sensitive now as they were then, so I can lay an ice pack on them, but it does still hurt to touch them.

When they were that tender back then, I researched what could be the cause, knowing this had to be more than a tendon or muscle issue.  What I found out is that there can actually be a fracture in the bone.

With the research, I realized I had probably advanced in speed and distance too quickly over time.  So, I took it easy for a while.  Unfortunately, I also developed a heel spur, and so my jogging eventually went out the window.  It was temporary, but it still meant I lost all that momentum, and had to start slowly again, working to get back in shape.  (During a stress-laden time, that is and was difficult... but no excuses now!)

The chiropractor I spoke with early on about the shin splints got discouraged, also, and finally concluded there must be something that is causing me to always have them, and basically there is no hope for me to be able to exercise without experiencing this pain.

That was a disappointing day.

I more recently asked another chiropractor about shin splints, explaining that I've dealt with them for as long as I can remember.  He went through the typical list of stretches, which I do multiple times daily, and then shared some information about ankles.  He analyzed mine, and then adjusted them, with hopes that the shin splints might be lessened.  Unfortunately, I have not seen any difference.

In fact, apparently one day last week I ran too fast too soon (and without enough stretching), and now I have throbbing shins.  What fun.

The crazy part is that I have been doing the same half-mile jog at the same basic pace for nearly two months consistently (during my lunch break).  How can speeding up my take-off one day cause more damage and thus more pain than normal?

During her recent visit, I was enjoying some time of catching up with my mom, and I got on this topic.  All of a sudden, it occurred to me that my cousin was not accepted full-time into the Army, because of shin splints!  When I had originally heard that, I thought it an odd reason, because I still thought of them as a minor, temporary, and sporadic condition.  However, I'm beginning to realize that there is something more to it.

So, what do you know about shin splints and their duration?

I posted this question on the Mick's up Life Facebook page, and some very helpful information was posted in a comment by a friend.  Check it out.

Don't let that stop you, though.  If you have more you'd like to share about the topic, please leave a comment here.

Thanks!!

"Don’t be wise in your own eyes.
    Have respect for the Lord and avoid evil.

That will bring health to your body.
    It will make your bones strong."

^{Proverbs 3:7-8 (NIV)}

^~