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Permalink Reply by Tricia MacNeil on June 30, 2007 at 4:18pm

First of all, DON"T DANCE ON CONCRETE! That's the worst cause for shin splints. In the past I've treated mine with ice and rest, but it usually took me a while to fully recover so I could dance without any pain. Now I try to prevent getting them at all costs.

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Permalink Reply by Nicola Semple on July 1, 2007 at 11:54am

What exactly are shin splints?? I've heard people talk about them,but only know that your shins hurt......

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Permalink Reply by Rachel Byrne on June 6, 2008 at 2:57pm

Shin splints are when your calf muscles get to big in proportion to the muscle at the front of the leg

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Permalink Reply by kelseychea on July 1, 2007 at 2:22pm

i think shin splints are caused when you do work that your muscles aren't used to...like if you have a workshop and camp and dance for 5 hours every day isntead of your normal 2 or so, then your shins might start hurting really bad, because they aren't used to the harder work. might wanna check up on that though...

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Permalink Reply by Angelika Berber on July 9, 2007 at 3:04pm

Shin splints can have a number of causes, for Irish dancers it is usually a muscular imbalance from too strong calves and too weak shins, or dancing on bad floors, so I was told by MY sports doc when I had them. They hurt, and they can take a while to heal.
These were tips I got from all over, from doctors, physios or fellow dancers.

When you have them: Stretch calves (loooong stretches, not just 10 seconds, and gentle, and no chatting to friends on the phone, focus!), rub caves with one of those massage balls or your fingers to release any residue tension in the muscles, ice shins, take ibuprofen (not a permanent solution but helps to reduce the inflammation initially) and rest your legs. No dancing for two weeks. No big jumps if you do dance, silly.
To avoid:
Build up foot muscles, shin muscles and work on your jumping technique (check out plyometrics, info available all over the internet). Don't dance on bad floors. Some people find dancing barefoot for a while helps cause you can use your toes better than in softshoes, catch the impact better you see, others wear shoes with more cushioning. Try Hullachans or Corrs.
And make sure your hardshoes are broken in.

In general it is better to take time off, get your muscle balance right and then come back to painfree dancing rather than dragging them along with you. I've had them, and I know it is no fun, but they can get really bad if you don't do something about them.
If you need exercises I have some, otherwise I trust you've figured it out yourself! :) Plyometrics and theraband workouts really did it for me after the initial inflammation had been taken care of.

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Permalink Reply by Emma on August 18, 2007 at 6:22pm

I had really bad shin splints, and I took a month off (it was July, where I take time off anyway.) I looked online for stuff about shin splints and this was the first site that popped up- http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/archives/shin-splints.php . The preventive exercises help so much, you can feel the muscles around your shins strengthening. oh, and there are lots of different theories about what exactly shin splints are, but what seems to be the most common is that they are the muscle tearing away from the bone (isn't that lovely?). This site is basically following that theory; if those muscles are strong then they'll stay where they're supposed to, I guess. Seems to help! Good luck,
Emma

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Permalink Reply by Grainne Walsh on September 5, 2007 at 10:41pm

Hello my name is grainne i'm a setdancer i get shin splints if i haven't danced for a while and they are very painfull i also have a knee problem it gets really painfull every so often i'm told it's the way i dance but i don't know

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Permalink Reply by Ann on September 19, 2007 at 3:50am

More info here: http://taoknitter.blogspot.com/2007/09/shin-splints.html

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Permalink Reply by Grace on November 30, 2007 at 12:49am

i recently got shin splints (it hurts) and wouldn't you know it, I got them from dancing on concrete. I have no other way to practice outside of my once a week dance class. Any helpful practicing tips for staying on top would be great!!!

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Permalink Reply by Angelika Berber on January 3, 2008 at 12:54pm

Try to replace as much actual dancing with something else, like dance exercises for your technique that do not involve jumping, try theraband exercises. Many moves can be practised standing still or lifting yourself between chairs. Learn new steps by going over and over them in your head till your know them there before you try practising them physically.
To keep fit try some extra activities like swimming. If you don't care about looking completely mad, practise dance moves under water, thing like high kicks and kicking you bum are incredibly hard against water resistance and that really helps your dancing to get stronger without any impact on your shins.
Or try Pilates! There is no jumping involved and all you need is an exercise mat.
Get creative, there are loads of ways to keep your muscles going with a miminum amount of time spent jumping on concrete. Use your practise time to get fit and improve single dance moves and work on your full dances at class. It is not ideal, but at least you don't damage your shins.

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Permalink Reply by Ann Marie on February 24, 2008 at 6:26am

hey, ive had shin splints before, you have to eat lots of bannanas and limes, and pulse your foot up and down with all your weight on that foot. try not to run.

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Permalink Reply by Róisín O'Neill on May 14, 2008 at 9:22pm

Hi, a friend of mine had a realy bad shin splint and acupuncture helped her a lot. After a few sessions the pain goes away. You should take it easy too of course, stop dancing for a few weeks.

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