It feels like I am developing some on my left leg, lateraloutside. I read some can get it on the inside, but I dont think Ive had those before. The only time I ever get shin splints is when I run on hard pavement or so it seems. In high school, when I was on the track team, the coach had us warm up on the road outside and then stretch and then do stuff on the crappy dirt track in KS... I got it on my left leg and it was pretty bad. Got really painful at times during the season, so I never really got into running events, along with having a pulled left quad. Seems like it didnt come back till I did too much about a week ago and ran a lot outside on the highway. Shin splints basically refer to any pain the lower leg or inflammation. It can be a stress fracture of the tibia or a pulling away of the muscle band I think, from the bone. Cant remember all the names of some of those muscles. Causes are usually overuse of muscles and too much running, not building up properly in your training, running downhill running on hard surfaces too much and so forth. Also, not stretching calves sufficiently. Improper running mechanics and ill-fitted or old shoes. Treatments include: RICE-rest, ice, compression and elevation This brings up another point I was wondering from some of the more experienced runners on here. Should you use those compression wraps on shin splints at night or while you are running, both? What about shin-splint bands you can buy and place on your legs? Those seem like good preventative measures for a distance runner/marathoner... Anyone see success with those? What about really tight compression like shorts/spandex--the full leg kind, that goes down to the ankles? Maybe those can help with shock absorption. -wearing proper running shoes Ibuprofen, Alleve -strengthening excercises such as standing on toes, using big toe to draw letters of the alphabet, picking up stuff with toes-towels, marbles, whatever -Um, laying off sometimes, yes... -standard injury excercise-biking, stationary biking, pool running letting it rest I read also that you could try to warm up the area right before excercising--hot tub/whirlpool, etc.. I should try to ice my leg tonight. Yeah, it sucks, but you need to be aware of what causes or can cause it and what to do afterwards and just keep it at bay Hey admin--the 300 seconds in between is still too long Why not bump it down to like 100 or less?