Yep I've had shin splints for about 14 months now. Not fun at all! Here's what I can tell ya
~You can tape your arches at practice which is the same as wearing shoes. I found that this made my feet cramp up really badly though and I didn't like it.
~I got to the point that I was filling up a huge container with ice and water up to my knees and I would stay there for 10 minutes. Then 10 minutes out, and another 10 minutes in. The last 10 will feel like it's killing you.
~Tape will support more than a wrap, but it can be really hard on your skin since you really can't put prewrap under the tape when it's on your shins.
~There's a couple ways to tape them. I liked two strips at the bottom of the calf and two near the top. You can also get knesio (sp?) tape and leave it taped for 2-3 days and that can help support even while you're not in the gym.
~If your shin splints are hurting in one specific spot, like you can put your finger on the spot that hurts that's a big red fire blazing flag that it might be a stress fracture; very bad news.
~STRENGTHEN the muscle in the front of your leg by doing toe tappers and stop doing toe raisers as that will just make your calf muscles tighter.
~STRETCH your calves
~I used these ss1185 ten.o shin splint support and they worked wonders for me, but I do know people who have tried others that didn't help at all.
Good luck! When you find a cure let me know, because I finished with gymnastics 5 months ago and I had to ice today after running around all weekend.
~You can tape your arches at practice which is the same as wearing shoes. I found that this made my feet cramp up really badly though and I didn't like it.
~I got to the point that I was filling up a huge container with ice and water up to my knees and I would stay there for 10 minutes. Then 10 minutes out, and another 10 minutes in. The last 10 will feel like it's killing you.
~Tape will support more than a wrap, but it can be really hard on your skin since you really can't put prewrap under the tape when it's on your shins.
~There's a couple ways to tape them. I liked two strips at the bottom of the calf and two near the top. You can also get knesio (sp?) tape and leave it taped for 2-3 days and that can help support even while you're not in the gym.
~If your shin splints are hurting in one specific spot, like you can put your finger on the spot that hurts that's a big red fire blazing flag that it might be a stress fracture; very bad news.
~STRENGTHEN the muscle in the front of your leg by doing toe tappers and stop doing toe raisers as that will just make your calf muscles tighter.
~STRETCH your calves
~I used these ss1185 ten.o shin splint support and they worked wonders for me, but I do know people who have tried others that didn't help at all.
Good luck! When you find a cure let me know, because I finished with gymnastics 5 months ago and I had to ice today after running around all weekend.