How are shin splints treated?
• Rest: The most important part of treating shin splints is to rest your shin. Rest may help decrease swelling and keep your shin splints from getting worse. Your caregiver can help you plan how to rest your shins. You may need to decrease your training time and distance until your shin is better. You may need to stop the activities that caused your shin splints until your shin heals. Caregivers can tell you about other exercises, such a bicycling or swimming, to do while your shin heals. • Ice: Ice causes blood vessels to constrict (get small) which helps decrease inflammation (swelling, pain, and redness). You may massage your shin with ice or put an ice bag on it. • To ice massage, fill a paper cup with water and freeze to make a large ice cube. Peel the paper away and put the ice cube on your injured shin. Rub in circles using medium pressure for five to ten minutes, three to four times each day. • To make an ice bag, put crushed ice in a plastic bag or use a bag of frozen corn or
