Experience treating/having shin muscle injury?

[Chad_A]

Not to be put under the usual umbrella term of "shin splint", but yesterday after 1000 ft of elevation gain while breaking in a new pair of boots, my right shin muscle (outside/lateral aspect) started aching horribly from mid-shin into the top of my foot. It radiates to the outside of my ankle.

 

Per the usual textbooks, shin splints usually involve the inner aspect of the shin area, and the sudden onset seems to make this a weird thing for me. I've had sore shins from running in the past, and this doesn't seem like the same.

 

This is what causes the pain to really show up:

 

1. pointing my toe downward, and leaning back, stretching the front of my leg/shin.

 

2. standing straight up, and bending down to touch my toes, without bending the knee. Ouch!

 

3. Grabbing my lower leg and bringing it up to my butt to stretch my quad, while standing upright on one leg.

 

I have three theories what happened.

 

1. I had the front ankle laces too tight while hiking, causing the shin muscle to overwork itself.

 

2. I had just switched orthotics, causing a differing footpattern.

 

3. The heel of the new boot is higher (?) than I'm used to, causing the shin muscle, again, to overwork itself. Or, as a friend pointed out, maybe too much toebox room (above the toes), and the toes/shin muscle has to work extra hard to pick up the boot for the next stride.

 

I'm hoping that someone on this board has some experience with this, or has some educated opinion as to what mechanics caused this and/or if they have a guess as to which muscle groups may be involved. I have a hard time thinking that the boots are unworkable, and I'm hopeful that a minor tweak will be all it takes to keep this from recurring. I'm confused that this only happened in my right leg, and my left leg was fine.

 

Thanks in advance. For now, I've taped my leg to keep my foot from dropping, and I'm taking NSAIDs and occasionally icing.

 

 

[layton]

The peroneus longus muscle is the culprit, and it acts as a foot everter, an important prime mover in foot pronation. My guess is that you somehow threw off your normal foot biomechanics, and the muscle had to do double duty to stabilze you foot - most likely because your boots were too tight or rigid in the sole. When a muscle has to isometrically contract or eccentrically contract, it can get real sore. Loosen up your boots or find a more flexible pair.

[Chad_A]

Thanks Mike- I'll look into running them a bit looser, and going back to my old insoles to rule that out as a possible cause.

 

FYI- They're the Kayland M11+ boots, and they seem to be quite flexible. The sole definitely flexes visibly when I walk, and the upper boot has only two laces instead of three laces high, so I doubt that the boot is the actual culprit. My guess is that I screwed something up.

 

Thanks for pinpointing it!