Shin Splints - What They Are, Self-Care, and Sports Massage

Apparently, running is going to give me plenty of things to learn about firsthand. 😂

This morning I did my first actual run/walk interval workout: a 5-minute walking warmup followed by six rounds of 2 minutes running and 1 minute walking.

Overall it went pretty well, but toward the end — I think around run #5 or #6 — I started noticing a very slight ache in my shin that felt like the beginning of shin splints.

It never got severe, but it was enough to make me pay attention.

So, of course, I started digging into what causes shin splints, what runners can do about them, and where sports massage may fit into the picture.

So what exactly are “shin splints”?

Shin splints is the common term for pain along the shin that often develops when the lower leg is being asked to handle more repetitive stress than it is currently adapted for.

This can happen when someone:

• Starts running after not doing much impact activity
• Increases mileage too quickly
• Adds speed or hills
• Runs more frequently
• Changes shoes or running surfaces
• Simply hasn’t developed enough strength and endurance in the lower leg yet

Which makes quite a bit of sense in my case.

I’ve been doing a lot of walking, but running creates a completely different type of repeated load.

And the answer isn’t necessarily to just massage the sore spot and keep running.

A better question is:

Why is this area becoming overloaded?

A few things you can do yourself

1. Look at your recent training

What changed?

Did you suddenly run farther? Run faster? Add another running day? Start running hills? Change shoes?

Sometimes the most important piece of self-care is recognizing that your training increased faster than your body could adapt.

2. Back off a little

That doesn’t necessarily mean stop exercising completely.

It might mean reducing running volume or intensity temporarily while continuing lower-impact aerobic work such as walking, cycling or swimming.

In my case, I’m going to keep the run/walk approach but pay attention to my pace and how my shin responds before I start adding more running.

3. Stretch both parts of the calf

For the gastrocnemius, try a traditional wall calf stretch with the back knee straight and heel down.

Then bend that back knee slightly while keeping the heel down to shift more of the stretch toward the soleus.

Hold each gently for around 20–30 seconds. This shouldn’t be an aggressive stretch.

4. Build lower-leg strength

Stretching is only part of it.

The lower leg needs enough strength and endurance to repeatedly absorb and produce force during running.

Some simple exercises include:

• Slow calf raises
• Bent-knee calf raises
• Tibialis raises — lifting the toes toward the shin
• Single-leg balance work
• Gradually progressing toward single-leg calf raises

The goal isn’t to destroy your calves with one workout. It’s gradually building their capacity.

5. Don’t forget the foot

The foot is where every running stride starts.

Gentle work with a massage ball under the foot, foot and ankle mobility, balance work and simple toe-control exercises can all be useful additions to a runner’s routine.

Where does sports massage fit into this?

This is actually one of the areas I’m working toward specializing in.

At the beginning of my final two weeks of massage school, I tore part of my supraspinatus tendon in my shoulder. I was able to finish school and become licensed, but the injury has slowed down my transition into actually working as a massage therapist while I work through physical therapy and recovery.

Because of that, I haven’t had the opportunity yet to work with as many runners and endurance athletes as I eventually want to.

So I’m using this time to keep learning.

I’m continuing my education in sports and orthopedic massage, learning more about running and endurance sports, working toward additional fitness education, and starting my own endurance training.

When I begin working more regularly with runners, I don’t want my approach to simply be:

“Where does it hurt?”

…and then spend the whole session working on that one spot.

I want to understand what the athlete is training for, what changed recently, when the symptoms started, and what may be happening throughout the foot, ankle and lower leg.

With shin discomfort, that could mean working with areas such as the calves, tibialis muscles, fibularis muscles and the muscles of the foot and ankle to address muscular tension, soreness, mobility and recovery.

But another important part of specializing in sports massage is recognizing when massage isn’t the appropriate answer.

Not every pain along the shin is simply shin splints.

Pain that becomes very localized to one small area, continues getting worse, causes pain during normal walking, develops swelling or starts hurting at rest deserves further evaluation rather than simply trying to massage through it.

For me right now, this is extremely mild.

I’m not going to see how much I can push through before it becomes a real problem.

I’m going to adjust my training, work on lower-leg strength and mobility, and see how my body responds.

And experiences like this are one of the reasons I wanted to start running myself.

I can study running injuries, biomechanics, sports massage and recovery in a book or continuing-education course, but actually going through the process of becoming a runner gives me another perspective on what runners experience as their bodies adapt to training.

I’m still at the beginning of that process.

But my goal is to continue building the education and experience needed to become someone local runners, cyclists, triathletes and other endurance athletes can come to for sports massage, recovery work and help keeping their bodies moving.

And in the meantime, I’ll keep sharing what I’m learning along the way.