Lower Leg Pain

by Nicholas
(Rockford Illinois)

I don't get shin splints per say, what I get is on the posterior of my lower leg. The muscle running up the outside of my shin bone gets so tight that I can hardly move my foot up or down and I have to stop for a few minutes after a mile or so before I can continue.

What stretches can I do for this?

It seems like doing pronation on my foot manually helps a little but then I feel like I am about to rip my foot off in order to get a decent stretch.



Answer by Dominique:


Hi there,
Thanks for your question about your lower leg pain. Shin splints can be both anterior or posterior, i.e. what you are describing still sounds a lot like shin splints.

The best treatment involves icing the area and two specific stretches in particular: heel drops and calf raises.

Also see my page about running stretches.

These two are probably the most important stretches there are to avoid a range of problems with the lower legs, but I don't know many people who do them.

Do them regularly, i.e. after each run and as often as you think of it while you are battling these lower leg pains.

I'd hope that as you strengthen your lower legs muscles this way your shin splints will become a thing of the past.

Kind regards,
Dominique