Aching Limbs

[KayJ]

Sometimes I get aching shins when I'm training.

It kind of affects me when training that day but I still carry on. (And how come it always starts when I'm on my best piece!) :(

Does anybody else get this? :eek:
Do you know what causes it and any tips for making it feel better 'cos it drives me mad sometimes?!:mad:

[DJC]

I get aching shins on vault. Apparently it's shin splints, which I believe are multiple micro-fractures. Sometimes it's really bad, and sometimes it's fine. I'm afraid I don't really know how to help it though.

[Jen]

Hey its my first post on the new forum!:)

Shin splints - i have problems with these (well certainly when i was a gymnast anyway) Sorry but there isnt really a cure for it unfortunately. The only thing you can really do is rest it. And then still it can come back, I had problems with shin splints in my last year or so competing, and even now 2 years on and with loads of rest (being lazy really) the pain can still come back after a bit of adult gym or running.
If you worried about it or it gets worse, suggest you see someone who knows a bit more about it, but all NHS will do is tell you to rest!

It tends to be an impact thing, so to prevent it getting worse just bear in mind what and where you landing on, I trained a lot on thin mats in school halls and i think thats where my problem started - not enough cushioning on landing. also found strapping it up helped a bit when i had to tumble etc.

[Loopyloz]

I've got shin splints at the moment, and have done for over a year now. I went to the doctors about it and they gave me ibuprofen to take, and told me to lay off the high impact things, and to ice my shins when they hurt. They also arranged an appointment with a physio, because both me and my sister had them at the same time.
They're not too bad when I'm not doing any exercise but whenever I start up again they start hurting (last time they were playing up was when I started jazz dancing classes).
I'd recommend that whenever your shins start to hurt, to rest for a bit, ice them, and try to keep away from the activities that aggravate them for a bit.

[Laura]

Yep- sounds like shin splints :mad: damn things!

Best thing to do is take it easy and ice them after training.

If this doesn't ease it after a few weeks it may be your technique, sounds stupid but that's the main cause when you get them for running so I'm assuming it can be the same for gym.

xxx

[pinkcandy]

yeh i had shin slints once it was really painful especially when running on vault. I got my shins strapped in a special way. you had to do v-shapes with tape the whole way up your shins and then put 3 strips round your calf to hold it on. You look a bit funny but it helps quite a lot, also saves on shaving your legs lol.

[Sian]

Ah shin splints... I went to see a sports masseur (not sure of spelling!!) who just so happens to be my coachs mum and she rubbed my shins in little circles going up my shin in where the little groove is - make sense?! It helps if you do it enough times a day.

Now I will be surprised if anyone makes sense of that, but for now, until I fond out another way of phrasing it in english, it'll have to do! :D

[KayJ]

Well, my mum's going mad now doing searches on the internet for "shin splints"! LOL

I've been trying Sian's suggestion of rubbing where the little groove is (yes, it did make sense Sian!). It has actually helped me so far, but then again I've not done much vault since I did this thread!

My mum says it might be my technique that's causing it 'cos I tend to run flat footed a bit with my toes pointing in towards each other :rolleyes: ! My mum's also going out to buy another ice pack for me now so I'll have two then - one for each shin when I get home from the gym!

As for resting ... not happy with that one :( - I can't stand a day missing gym or trampolining!

[Sian]

Take my advice, do some resting. I never took to resting... and thats why I'm in this situation! But I injure myself more often than an average human being!!

[Laura]

My mum says it might be my technique that's causing it 'cos I tend to run flat footed a bit with my toes pointing in towards each other :rolleyes: !
Yeah, sounds like it could be. Might be worth finding an athletics club in your area and seeing about joining a sprint group for a while.

xxx

[Lucy]

Why don't you buy the coach handbooks and when you have to rest you can study the build ups and techniques for moves you want to learn/improve, I know it's not the same as being there and doing it but at least it might prove useful.;)

[KayJ]

I've just got my hospital appointment today for 2nd September 'cos the doctor said my feet pronate a bit and that might be the trouble (I just had to ask my mum that word 'cos I couldn't remember it!!)

Don't really want to go but my mum says I have to :( I'm scared it'll mean time off gym and we're doing loads of really good stuff at the moment, I've just learnt my sole circle, I've nearly got my backaway by myself, I've been learning round-off tucks this week, I'm learning cartwheel back somi dismount off beam, and my vaults getting better and I've been doing 1/2 ons, it's been brilliant - I don't want to miss any training!!!!

Keep your fingers crossed for me ...

[Dave]

Fingers crossed for you KAYJ...... i know what its like to be out of the gym injured and not training..

[KayJ]

Thanks Dave! Do you think you'll get back to training soon? I hope you do, I'd hate not being able to train :(

[Dave]

I've actually had some good news on my injury, had x-rays taken of my lower left leg and left foot which all came back normal and im doing a lot of work in the local Lesuire centre pulling weights and doing a lot of leg strengthening so its slowly comming together... As for tumbling training im tumbling once a week on the saturday and taking this slow and easy but its slolwly comming together, the injury is still there but instead of jumping straight back into full time training im doing light training and very very slowly building it up..... I'll most likely only be tumbling once a week for the next 6 weeks and then i'll see how the injury is reacting if its ok i'll step up my training to twice a week, trying to come back from badly injured Tendons is not a easy task.... I've been very down about it and considering quiting but hopefully now i can be a bit more optimistic about the future and not pesimistic.....
I Hope for your sake KAYJ that all is ok as believe me that being injured can be very depressing...

[KayJ]

Don't give up!!! I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I had to stop training, I've been training 4 days a week since I was 5 and 5 days a week since I took up trampolining as well last year, don't know what I'd do if I had to drop to 1 day a week?! But it's better than not training at all isn't it, and at least you might be able to do 2 days in a few weeks time as well, I hope you do.

Good luck Dave, I'll let you know how I get on ;)

[Dave]

I Don't want to give up but its still a possibility im just taking things day by day with injury as i cant afford to push it ! What is most annoying is watching and talking about gymnastics when its all you wanna do but you cant cos of injury and rehab you have to take things slowly....

[Lucy]

Hang in there Dave, at least you've had some good news and you're being incredibly sensible by not throwing yourself back into it too quickly. Just keep thinking how you may be prolonging your long term training prospects by taking it slowly :)

Kayj find a sports massage therapist that knows how to treat shin splints, I don't think they can cure it but they can ease it considerably.

[KayJ]

Thanks Lucy, I'll mention that to my mum when I go back downstairs!

And Lucy is right, Dave you're being really sensible not doing loads of training too soon, it's a good job I've got my mum to tell me to slow down and take days off because I'd just keep going if she didn't! Silly thing is since I've got my hospital appointment my shins haven't been so bad!!!! But like I said to my mum, that's probably because I've been cutting back on my training the last few weeks and I have had a week off on holiday with no training, so I think the rest has helped me a bit!

[Dave]

I'm hanging in there Luci and Kayj, but its tough trying to control yourself when u just wanna hit the tumble track all the time.....

Kayj isn't it funny that when ever your injured and you have an appointment with the docs or hospital that when your appointment gets closer your injury eases off slightly....
Like it was said there isnt much that can be done for shin splints, the only cure really is to have an operation where they shave the shin bone so its smooth again... I know as thought i had shin splints but it was in fact diagnosed by my physio as tendinitis...

[KayJ]

Having my shins shaved!!!! :eek: I'll have my legs shaved but I don't think I want my shins shaved!!!

[Dave]

It does sound quite daunting..... Im just glad i didnt have shin splints...... KayJ i have included a link to a sports medicine web site its quite useful and has loads of information on injuries, this particular link is about shin splints......

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/leg_injuries/a/leg2.htm

I have found this web site to be very useful in the past...

[KayJ]

Thanks Dave, I'll go on that as soon as I get off this forum!!

I think I'd better get my mum to look at it with me, she might understand the medical language a bit better than me!

[Dave]

That might be a good idea, Let me know if the article is off any use.

[Dave]

Dam injury has flared up again !!! ahhhhhh :mad:

[Gingerheid]

Oh no!

Hope all turns out well.

[Gingerbop]

I've never had shin splints as yet, but I always have a little shiny bit on my shins from upstarts going to pot. You said shaved shins, but no matter how much skin they take off, the bars always leave the hair! *tsk*

[Dave]

Gingerbop i think you misunderstood me they dont shave the skin they shave the shin bone.....

[KayJ]

Oh nooooooooooo!! I'm really sorry about your injury Dave :(

Had a look at the shin splints site with my mum, there's loads on there and she's printed off a few pages, things like the treatment and stuff is good too. She still thinks it might be down to my pronation (I had to shout downstairs and ask her that word again and how to spell it, I keep forgetting it!) My ankles go over a bit sometimes so I sort of run on the outside of my foot and my feet turn in a bit, so that's what she thinks might be the problem. Oh well, appointment's next week so I'll let you know what they say ...

[Red]

hi kayJ,
I used to do artistic gymnastics and now do rhythmic. I still get pains in my shins aswell. I had a accident at school and the hospital thought I had broken my ankle and put me in a cast. They then told me that it was an old injury but I hadn't hurt my ankle before. I went over on my ankle two more times after that. I did that over a year ago and still get pains occassionally. My ankles have eventually got a bit better because I have got orthotics in my shoes which make my knees turn the right way. They have helped me alot.
http://www.british-gymnastics.org/memberforum/images/icons/icon12.gif
Love red.

[Tasha]

Hey I have orthotics Red because i'm very flat footed and I have sprained my ankles abut a million times !!! Never been put in a cast though. I've been told by a physio at Lilleshall when I was having my summer screening that she doesn't know how I do rhythmic with my feet like they are lol!! On the other hand I do ballet and when I went to get new point shoes I got told I had beautiful feet !!Luv Tasha x x x x

If you have shin splits or shrap pains in your ankles rub ice cubes on them it helps xx

[Red]

Hi Tasha

where do you get your orthotics? we had loads of trouble getting mine. We only have one childrens podiatrist in the area. So she's very busy.
I got told so many time that I was running flat footed that I forgot how to run naturally. Every time at gym I would be nagged and shouted at, but I couldn't help it. The orthotics have made so much difference though. I get hardly any pain in my knees any more, so they must be doing something right.!
Luv Red

[Tasha]

Nuffield hospital because I was refered by Phyios from Lilleshall. Luv Tasha xxx

[KayJ]

I've just had to ask my mum what orthotics are!! :o My mum has mentioned them before to me but not called them that!

Do you have to wear them just in your normal shoes or do you have them in your gym shoes too when you do gym? Or does just having them in your normal shoes make you walk better when you've got no shoes on at all? I'd really like to know if it's something I'm going to need to have in my own shoes. What do they really do??!!!

[Red]

hiya

I just wear them in my normal shoes and trainers. They are solid, moulded sort of hard plastic things!! Sorry if that sounds awful. For me, they have put my ankles where they should be. When they did the moulds they put the hard casts on the table and let them roll out to where my ankles naturally go, and it was really bad. With them in my shoes I have no (hardly any!) pain. They have helped me to get arches at last! Good luck, let me know how you get on.
Luv Red

[Anita]

My youngest daughter has actually injured both ankles at one time or another and kept going over on them but exercises (and physio with a sports injuries specialist) helped tremendously. It was discovered however that the arch had dropped on one of her feet because of the long-standing ankle injury (her first injury). Until we went to the sports injury physio we hadn't seen her ankle bone for 18 months (hospital physio had been useless!). He managed to get her ankle looking like an ankle again (it always looked swollen until then) and advised her to wear trainers with an "instep" built in them for a few months (cost me £70!) but they did the trick although she had to carry a note with her at school because she was forever getting stopped and told off for not wearing "proper" shoes!.

Hope all you injured people get better soon.

[Gingerheid]

All the best for tomorrow KayJ!

[KayJ]

Thanks Gingerheid!

[Dave]

It doesnt look like im ever going to clear this injury..... My physio is out of the country at the moment im in agony with no physio...... As my physio suggested a while ago im going to get orthitics to assist my feet which should help heal my poor old achey tendons.....

How'd it go Kayj ?

[KayJ]

I've got to have orthotics in my shoes!!! They said my feet are "over flexible" (common for gymnasts she said 'cos we have bendy bodies and so bendy feet as well!) Actually it was a couple of longer words she used than that that I can't remember, but that's what it meant!

So that's what's making me not walk properly and why I'm not putting my weight on my feet in the right place (or something!!) and that's what's making my ankles and my shins ache.

I've got to go and have them fitted in about 3 weeks time so I can't wear my sandals after that ('cos they slip out of sandals), so I'm wearing my favourite sandals all the time now instead! But she didn't say I had to stop training! :D She said I'll probably have to wear them for as long as I'm doing any sports, but my muscles might start to work in the right shape after a while and then I might not need them any more, but that would probably be a few years anyway!

After I have them fitted I've got to go back about 2 months after that to check I've not got any new aching limbs because of the orthotics!!!! I'll let you know if they make a difference Dave, they might be a help to you too.

And thanks to everybody who's posted on my thread, you've all been a really great help and helped me not be nervous when I went yesterday.

(Actually it was really nice when she was feeling the bones in my feet and moving them about, it was like having a foot massage!!)

Thanks for your help everyone :)

[Red]

Hiya, well done you for getting it sorted. Yes it can be a pain not being able to wear the types of shoes you want. I haven't had sandals at all this year. Managed to talk mum into flip flops for the odd occasion, but I find it really weird walking without my orthotics now i've gotten so used to them. Did they say you have hypermobile joints? I used to feel like a rag doll when they were bending me about and saying cor look at that! isn't she bendy? I really hope you get gr8 results as if you do it is so worth it. I hardly ever get any trouble now (you wait I'll get an injury intraining this weekend now!!). Good luck
Redxxhttp://www.british-gymnastics.org/memberforum/images/icons/icon14.gif

[KayJ]

Thanks for the http://www.british-gymnastics.org/memberforum/images/icons/icon14.gif Red! Yes I think that might have been one of the long words I couldn't remember! I hope they work too, might improve my running and my vault and tumbling might get better then!

Thanks again everybody! (Hope you get sorted Dave!)

[Dave]

KayJ thanks 4 wishing me luck on getting my injury sorted, so far its slowly clearing up WAHOO :) but i wont count my blessing too quickly as knowing me i'll end up makign it worse

[Jaye]

Hey, someone's given my little kiddywinkle a 5-star rating for her thread! Don't know who it is but thanks ... it really made her day when I told her yesterday!
:D
http://www.british-gymnastics.org/memberforum/images/icons/icon14.gif

[Dave]

I Would like to say it was me, but sadly it wasn't.... Still a good thread though:D