Posts: 25443
-
Karma: 13,844
Oh god, I've suffered through so much shin pain, so I'll write what I know to help you. Shin Bang can come from many sources, but here are the most common ones:
- Landing backseat/flat landings
This will totally screw you over, no matter what your boots/shins are like. If your shins hurt, stop hitting that damn icy kicker! Otherwise, you'll keep brusing it and just make it all worse. Trust me, I blocked it out with ibprofin one year and had bruises on my shins until August.
Treatment Options: Stop hitting the park for a few days and learn to land forward.
- Shin Splints
I got these mad bad a few years ago, cross country during the summer definently didnt help. While with shin splints, the pain is mostly in the muscle on the sides, but you can definently pull the muscles in the front of your shins and make them really tender (happened to me in october after a huge run, felt just like boot bang). Shin splints happen for a even wider variety of reasons, from simple fallen arches in your feet to nasty calcium buildup on your bones that shreds the muscle as you flex (again, happened to a friend in XCountry). Try icing and heating the pain, alternating between the cool and hot for about 5 minute each. Do this for about and hour, and its less tender and painful, its probably not boot bang - you have sore muscles, meaning shin splints.
Treatment Options: talk to your coach or PE teacher if you have one, or go see a physical therapist if its really bad (or you play other sports). If your flat footed, you probably need inserts in your ski boots, so go get a pair of Superfeet and cut them to fit your liner. Custom footbeds help too.
- I dont know what I'm doing but it hurts
Ok, so you read all that and you dont think you're doing or have either. Whats up? Who the hell knows. Could be your boots, could just be your shins. What can you do? Here are some ideas:
1) Get a booster strap. I havent used one, but hear they do wonders. Or just put your power strap around your liner, like someone suggested previously.
2) Ice and Heat your shins. This is a good treatment for sore muscles and bruising. It might not stop you from getting them, but it'll increase bloodflow to the area and help your body fix things faster.
3) Get some padding. Wear thicker socks next time, or try and cut something to brace your shin better. Make sure that whatever you create goes down the entire length of the shin (prevents bunching or it falling down when you ski) and make sure to put it on the OUTSIDE of the liner, between it and the plastic. Good materials to use for padding can be anything foamy. I used an old thermarest my family never used, the old foam backpacking type of mattress. Avoid anything cloth, as it will just collect water and compact.
Well, that was fun. Hope this gives relief to some. For me, the ultimate solution was getting boots with better forward flex and rethinking the way I tighten my boots (I keep the 2nd toe really loose, helps flex). But, shin bang is going to be caused by many different things for many different people, so if something doesnt work, try something else and dont give up!
-
