Sports Injuries: Shin Splints no joke on golfers

I played soccer and ran track my whole life and never had shin splints. Throw on a pair of wing-tips, move to NYC and get old and Holy Smokes! Walking the golf course becomes downright difficult.

Shin splints are also hereditary.

Jay: (last year) Dad, you’ll never believe it, but my shin splints are absolutely killing me. I can’t walk.

Dad: Oh I can believe it, I had them real bad too when I was young.

Jay: Thanks for the warning, Dad!  Anything else I should be watching out for?!
Anyway, Shin splints – where the postereal peroneal tendon (connecting the foot and ankle) becomes inflamed or worse, torn off the bone.

Take it from personal experience: acute shin splints feel like a migraine in your foot.

According to medicinenet.com, “A primary culprit causing shin splints is a sudden increase in distance or intensity of a workout schedule. This increase in muscle work can be associated with inflammation of the lower leg muscles, those muscles used in lifting the foot (the motion during which the foot pivots toward the tibia). Such a situation can be aggravated by a tendency to pronate the foot (roll it excessively inward onto the arch).”

I recently had to play three consecutive days of golf (Caledonia, True Blue and Bulls Bay) in this 2006 Dixie Cup, which was dedicated to Mike Strantz’s memory. One week before tee time at Cali, my shin splints (in mercifully only one leg, not both) were debilitating. I had one week to heal a two week injury or get myself into position to be able to tough it out and walk three days in a row.

The secret? Ice, rest and compression.

I wrapped it each day in 4″ Ace bandage. The compression kept the tendon from further inflammation or tearing. I stayed off it till tee time each day. AFter my round, I put an ice pack on the ankle for a good hour.

Former Olympic Luge Specialist Cameron Myler was a good healer on this one, teaching me how to properly wrap the tendon (make sure both the top of the foot and first part of the tibia are equally compressed) and the benefits of ice only on this type of injury. Heat will not work as it further inflames the tendon.

Here’s more useful tidbits:

Currently, a multifaceted approach of “relative rest” is successfully utilized to restore the athlete to a pain-free level of competition.

What is the multifaceted “relative rest” approach?

This multifaceted approach includes:

• Workouts such as stationary bicycling or pool running – these will allow maintenance of cardiovascular fitness.
• Icing – to reduce inflammation.
• Anti-inflammatory medications, such as ibuprofen (Advil/Motrin); naproxen (Aleve/Naprosyn) – are also a central part of rehabilitation.
• A 4-inch wide Ace bandage wrapped around the region – to also help reduce discomfort.
• Calf and anterior (front of) leg stretching and strengthening – to address the biomechanical problems discussed above and reduce pain.
• Careful attention to selecting the correct running shoe based upon the foot type (flexible pronator vs. rigid supinator) – this is extremely important. In selected cases shoe inserts (orthotics) may be necessary.
• Stretching and strengthening exercises are done twice a day.
• Running – only when symptoms have generally resolved (often about 2 weeks), AND with several restrictions:

1. A level and soft terrain is best.
2. Distance is limited to 50% of that tolerated preinjury.
3. Intensity (pace) is similarly cut by one half.
4. Over a 3-6 week period, a gradual increase in distance is allowed.
5. Only then can a gradual increase in pace be attempted.

Caveat!

The amount of injury that occurs prior to any rehabilitation program plays a significant role in determining the time frame necessary for complete recovery. Shin splints are a type of “overuse injury” to the legs.