Alrighty, I was asked by a few how to tape your shins if you've got bad shin splints. So here's a pretty little diagram of how the kenisiologist tapes mine. I'm sure this is just one of a few ways of doing this.

I wouldn't recommend this for minor shin splints. Check with your doctor or physio before taping them because apparently it's quite rare to actually have to tape shins. Mine get taped because I've got lumps of calcium that formed on my tibia. The taping helps to prevent any further swelling and gives that extra support when you'd normally want to just collapse at the end of a dance.

Also, make sure you stretch your calves/lower calves reeeally well before and after dancing. Ice them afterwards as well.

Hope this helps

Great job! I am sure there are lots of us out there who really need to know the correct way to tape them. Karma to you!

Sara

Karma to you. Thanks for the great post.

Very helpful, thank you for sharing.

im showing this to my physiotherapist tomorrow, see what we can do. thanks

we've been fortunate not to get shin splints yet, just one weak ankle and the "burn" on the outer arch
Are shin splints caused by improper stretching, or maybe dancing on a concrete floor?
How do dancers normaly get them?
Thanks!

They're usually cuased by repetitive stress, so dancing on hard floors (because there's nothing to absorb the movement so your leg is), uphill/downhill running etc. Anything that causes excessive stress to the lower leg I suppose..

Stretching is extremely important- for any injury prevention. But as for shin splints, stretching the calf muscle and the muscles just up from the ankles is super important. You know the stretch where you stand against a wall and push? (www.geocities.com . . .) Well, thats a good one. Hold that (A) for 30 seconds on each leg and repeat it 3 times each. Then bend your knee and that will stretch the lower parts (B).

Mine have occurred because I apparently have super tight calf muscles (and large ones too ) and they're causing the tendons to pull away from my tibia and somewhere in there causing little calcium lumps to attach themselves to the tibia. I ice them everyday, go to physio every week (they use electroshock, ultrasound and acupuncture) which makes a huge difference in the pain. I was never much of a stretcher before activities so I'm paying for it now

very useful as i suffer from shin splints alot

THANKYOU!!!

Oh God. The FIRST thing they tell you (or are supposed to tell you) is that you should only tape in the way that they have suggested for you - meaning, you have to go to a professional in the first place.

They may give you exactly the same description, yes - but they'll also demonstrate how to do it properly and watch you practise it. A picture-post is not going to be able to correct it for you. If you tape incorrectly you run the very real and serious risk of making the shin splints worse or causing new problems.

This is certainly a very well-meaning post but for the love of God, if you have shin splints then either go and see someone about them or just suffer in silence. <B>Please</b> don't get gung-ho and tape yourself - any decent physio will tell you that.

Louise

I'm pretty opinionated when it comes to the Internet, and I think that if you can't figure out for yourself that you shouldn't do be doing anything that can endanger your health or cause more harm than good, then you really shouldn't be online without mommy or daddy supervising you.

That's very simplistic.

Louise

Maybe be so, but it's true. We teach our kids not to take candies or whatever from strangers; that's no difference than taking advice online from strangers.

But they sometimes still take the candy.

Which is why we need mommies to tell them not to.

^ Or if their mommies don't know any better, because why would they? Then perhaps we need a Weezy to tell them not to.

Louise

When I read that, I had an image of a trailer trash mommy popping out her 5th rugrat by her fifth boyfriend. Oops.

My older Irish dancing daughter has shin splints right now. Very timely post! THANKS

Irishdancemom

Shin splints is caused by the muscle behind the shin bone swelling and pushing against the bone...that's what causes the pain. Usually most people start suffering from this when they go throught growth spurts. The best cure is to have a hot bath, then to massage along the bone (you'll feel the knots in the muscle), then icing 20minutes on 20 minutes off and repeat. This will help reduce the inflamation in the muscle so it won't push against the bone. I went through this when I was 16 and suffered for months until I learnt what to do. I did this every night for 2 months and I haven't suffered since and am now 23 at the height of my dancing.
I hope this helps anyone who suffers from this pain. Also wearing a shoe with padding in the ball also reduces the impact from harder surfaces. I recommend Dougie's Bounce. I've danced in the edinburgh tattoo on cement wearing those and never suffered any pain.

OK... this thread should really not be here as the info given should only be given by a qualified medical expert to one individual. Also, if you don't know the actual mechanism of injury then you can't advise on it.

Since it is here, I'll add a few tidbits of documented medical information. It'll be long but good info for the large number of dancers who get 'shin splints'. This is info on the condition itself - no treatment advise at all

First of all - please do not randomly tape your legs. Only certain types of injuries will warrant taping. Taping can cause a great deal of damage in some injuries. You may not get all of the details below but you may notice that shin splints are more complicated than muscles pushing on the tibia (which is not actually correct - a good thin to remember that muscles never push - they only pull). Likewise, never put heat on an acute injury. By doing so you are pulling more blood to the area and causing an increased inflamitory response. Use ice instead. Ice can be used at all stages of injury while heat should only be used in chronic or late subacute conditions. Ice should be applied until the area is numb then removed and repeated. DO NOT become a doctor to yourself. Seek professional advise.

Usually the pathophysiology of overuse injuries is a local inflamitory response to stress (stress with highland being the pounding). The cause of overuse injuries are either intrinsic - like a malalignment syndromes or muscle imbalance - or extrinsic - such as a training error.

Shin splints is a catch-all name for a number of compartment syndromes, medial tibial stress syndrome, undiagnosed stress fracture of the tibia or tendinitis. This usually comes in the form of exercise induced pain. It is mechanical inflamation due to the repetitive stress of the broad proximal (upper portion) of any of the musculotendinous units (compartments) originating from the lower leg or tibia during weight bearing. This definition is consistent with that of the American and Canadian medical associations terminology.

In a bit less clinical terms... The leg (the name given to the portion of the lower limb from the knee to ankle)muscles are divided into 3 compartments - the anterior, the posterior and the deep posterior compartments. Each compartment contains several muscles and the compartments are separated from each other by fascia or a connective tissue sheet. Normally, during activity, muscles within these compartments will become inflamed which is why our muscles become harder and more pronounced during exercise. The normal time for the inflamation to receed is approximately 5 minutes after exercise has been discontinued. With overuse, improper training or muscle imbalances the inflamation can cause an inappropriate amount of pressure to build up in the compartment and it takes longer for the inflamation to subside - up to 20 minutes. The increased pressure causes pain to occur. Depending on the compartment being affected, the pain can be felt along the anterolateral (outside edge) of the tibia (anterior compartment), the posteromedial edge (inside edge) of the tibia (superficial posterior compartment) or the medial edge extending to behind and below the medial maleolus (big bump on the inside of the ankle) (deep posterior compartment). The repetitive stress on these muscle compartments can cause microtearing along the tibia and the repair of these tiny injuries is with scar tissue which doesn't stretch. This will feel like bumps along the tibia. Calcium deposits can occur at sites where minor bone injuries have occured and will feel similar.

Medial tibial stress syndrome is difficult to differentiate from posterior compartment syndrome but it is usually more focal and more painful. It is usually a localized 3-6cm area of tenderness ofer the lower 1/3 of the inner edge of the tibia.

The pain of a stress fracture is similar to the other syndromes at first. They have a gradual onset of around 2-3 weeks. The pain is usually during activity and relieved by rest to start. Next, the pain continues for hours or possibly through the night. A cardinal sigh of bone pain (rather than muscle pain) is night time worsening. A common area for a stress fracture is 2-3 inches above the ankle on the inner aspect of the tibia.

Tendinitis can also cause similar pain. Posterior Tibialis tendinitis can cause pain up and down the medial (inner) aspect of the tibia and around the medial maleolus.

Pronation or 'rolling in' of the foot can contribute to the above. Compartment syndromes and medial tibial stress syndrome can progress to a stress fracture and a stress fracture may progress to a complete break.

Rest is the mainstay of treatment in the early stages. The duration of rest varies from 1-2 days for mild shin splints to several months for severe stress fractures. Taping the legs for shin splints reduces the amount of space that muscles have to expand which, in the long run, will only make the problem worse. Rest or modify your activity level for a short period of time and you will get better. Make sure you take steps to prevent recurrance of the injury by correcting faulty training errors, wear proper footwear and avoid overzealous training.

Long, drawn out and boring for some but I treat the condition daily in a clinical setting and it's not pretty when it gets really bad. Be smart and give your legs a rest.

ooooh this is really good! and accurate too, i got almost the same info from my physical therapist last year, hehe.

i bet if you copied this info onto the "injuries" board as well, a whole bunch of other dancers would love you for it!

I think people are neglecting to notice that I really did write

Check with your doctor or physio before

when I posted this.

Ceilidh Dance, awesome information. Are you a physio? You seem to know your stuff!

I'm actually going to have to go back to physio again. I thought before the Christmas break that everything was fine- no pain or anything. But then after 2 classes and a competition, they're throbbing pretty badly again

During my time in Canada and Scotland I have visited many different sports specialists for advice. I have never once been told to tape shin splints. I think this would be rather uncomfortable actually. I believe Ceolas posted this with good intentions however I do not see what actual benefit is has to this particular injury.

Hi Ceolas,

Just for the record, I know you posted this with good intentions and you did mention that people should see their doctor. I just wanted to reiterate that point.

No, I'm not a physio but I currently study another field of health care that is equally as anal about physiology, pathology, neurology and anatomy. We have a huge focus on the treatment of pathologic disorders ('shin splints' included).

There's only so much info that one's brain can hold without exploding. Consider my previous (overly long) post as this week's explosion of excess info.

Kudos to both Ceolas and Ceilidh Dance for their posts. I have dealt with a few family doctors that didn't take dance injury seriously and could have wound up in far worse shape than I am if I didn't listen to the inner voice.

#1 Rule - If it hurts - stop immediately.

#2 Rule - No matter what - seek proffessional advice (and don't be afraid to shop around - if they don't listen or only push pills, then you need someone else.)

#3 Rule - communicate with your teacher and your parents about your injury.

Highland_desire, it's actually not uncomfortable at all. I can barely get through a Fling when they're hurting badly but with the taping I can get through a full class with little problem. It gives quite a bit of extra support- just the same as when people tape or wrap their ankles... and there are MANY dancers who do that!

Ceilidh_Dance, excessive info is always weclome when it's useful