OK, first i'd like to say that i've read the old threads on the above, and also pm'd one or two people who identified themselves as suffering splints (thanks for responding btw).

I'm also aware that askling random strangers on the internet for advice on potetially medicalconditions is not the best route to regaining health.

however:

I can't get any time off work to go to the doctor (this apparently is not illegal in the UK?!), and I've been to the hospital last night, where they refused to xray me on account of still being able to walk; they did offer to get a doctor to see me, but after sitting down and being completely ignored for two hours i got up and left. A&E sucks donkey cock.


anyway, the problem:

i've never previously suffered splints or anything to any serious degree. The past 3-odd weeks, I've been getting around mid-way through the usual 5 rounds of skipping at the start of MT before a nasty pain starts in the lower inside shin of each leg, particularly bad in the left.

I've been working through it, and it gets steadily worse. Once the skipping stops, it takes around 5-10 mins for the pain to die down to a dull ache.

this would eventually die away towards the end of the night, but in the last week or so has persisted a,d twice been so bad during the night that it has woken me up. in the last 3 days i've experienced pain just walking up stairs and in my daily leisurely perambulations to work and around town.

The legs are sore to press, though generally not unusually tender; again, the left is slightly worse. However, 2 occassions where we were just practicing light contact catching roundhouses, i couldnt handle the pain of having my leg encircled and caught.

training has now gone on hold.

I'm pretty clueless as to what is going on here, and the timing is **** as i'm doing an amateur bout on feb 17th. the fucking doctors is mon-fri and the hospital was a waste of time. i'm trying RICE which seems to help a little, and i'm going to wait and see what a bit of time off does for me. i am also skint, so no private physio.

if anyone has any recent experience of this kind of ****, or constructive advice to offer, i would be most appreciative.

cheers,

Take a days holiday leave at work and see the Doctor...or else learn to be patient at the hospital. If it is important enough to worry you, it is worth the waiting time

well, thats what i was thinking, but i have just started this job, and i am on the 3 month probationary period. the people here are super-para about sick rates so i'm reluctant to throw a sickie just yet, but if it comes down to it, yeah, definitely.

and you are right about the hospital, but i was so tired and hurting and pissed off i just got ratty and fucked it off. i regretted it, incidentally, as soon as i walked off the compound, but then it was too late to go back. i'm going to go back this weekend hopefully.

oh, i also have no holiday leave either. i'm in a bit of a quandry at the moment.

I hear you on the hospital thing.

As for leave, surely you must have accrued a measure of holiday time by now? It sucks to "waste" it, but that might be your only option

I'm in the same boat. I took a month off of muay thai when I went home for winter break, and ever since I've been back my shins have been killing me. I tried taking a week off doing RICE but that didn't really seem to help, and everytime I go to the campus health clinic about something they just tell me to take ibuprofen. I guess I could go to a physical therapist but that sounds like it would cost money...but one of these days I guess I'll have to suck it up and go.

DO NOT COMPETE UNLESS YOU ARE SURE THIS IS NOT AN UNDIAGNOSED STRESS FRACTURE!!!!!!!!!!

You don't want this to happen, do you?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BywCVs9_nd0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwK0NykA_kk

If the pain is sharp and localized to a small area, it may very well be a stress fracture. If it is more diffuse over a wider area, it's probably one of the umpteen types of shinsplints. X-rays are the only way to tell for sure.

Regardless, you need to stop skipping rope RIGHT NOW! Find another way to work your cardio (like on a bicycle). Your level of intensity is too high for what your shins can take right now. Let them heal. Also, start using a D.A.R.D. to help prevent more shinsplints.

Then again, it could be cancer. Rub some dirt on it.



(FYI: Though the last paragraph is a joke, in this situation, bone cancer of the tibia/fibula does masquerade as shinsplints. It's unlikely, of course. However, the doc will rule it out from an X-ray.)

Don't even fucking joke about that. I had Ewing's scarcoma in my tibia. Fun cancer: nasty surgery, a year totally disabled and on evil chemotherapy. Of course, if you don't die from the cancer or the chemo, you're generally fine after. Bone cancer is very, very rare, however.

thanks for the replies.


jesus christ. i didnt even know you could get shin cancer. unlucky mate, i hope you are now fine and well. i've lost a couple of close family members to cancer and it scares **** out of me, i think if i got diagnosed with it i would go under; blow all my money on a crack and hooker binge then shoot myself or summat. no way could i go through waht i've seen people go through.


anywho, back to the topic. the skipping has stopped. the training has stopped (for 2 days now at least...), the hospital will be consulted again in the morning. i forgot to mention, the pain is pretty localised in a small spot, thats whats making me lean toward stress fracture. if it is, i will be fucking gutted. i dunno if that will rule me out of muay thai forever?

my interweb-fu has revealed that stres fractures, fiendishly, don't usually show up on xrays - until after they have started healing.

the only way to diagnose them apparently is some mad type of scan, which if they wouldnt even give me an xray when i was clearly in pain, well, i havent got a cat in hells chance of getting a scan i reckon.


re. those videos - how bad would a stress fracture have to be to have your leg snap like that do you reckon? i dont think my legs are that bad, and i'm still hoping like mad it isnt stress fractures i've got

As for leave, surely you must have accrued a measure of holiday time by now?

ha; it get s better - i started on december 18th right? but i already had flights booked to stay with the folks in ireland @ christmas, so they calculated that (coz their financial year runs april-march) i had something like 6 days holiday entitlement, and then let me use a couple of days of next years holiday in advance. so, not only do i not have any current holiday entitlement, i've already used some of next years.

you know when you find yourself in those situations where theres an answer to everything, and the answer is 'no'? thats what i feel like now, everything is conspiring against me. its doing my head in.



i bet you heard loads of that as a cop "i couldnt make my court hearing because..."

Sounds to me like you should've stopped much sooner, normally you would only need about a week of staying off your stress factured limbs. An ounce of prevention, pound of pain and all that. I suggest staying off your shins, and trying not to stress them too much at all.

you're right mate; but it's easy to be wise after the fact. plus i've had little injuries here and there and just ploughed through it, so by the time i got pulled up on this one it was already too late like

Enough bullshit.

Get off the fucking computer.

Go to a doctor...preferably one with experience treating athletes.

You need to start physical therapy NOW. If you're already at a high level of pain and a moderate level of mobile difficulty, then you're too late for quick healing.

Yes, it sucks, and you'll probably miss your fight. Deal with it or else consider the possibility of never running again.

---

In case you're wondering why I'm a bit touchy on this subject, I royally fucked my shins in the Marine Corps because I didn't take it seriously.

Shin Splints -> Stress Fractures -> Fractures

I've been through 3 doctors (military and civilian), 5 physical therapists, and an acupuncturist. Because I didn't nip the problem in the bud, I've been told that I'll probably have diminished weight bearing capacity (read "Impact Activities" like running) for the rest of my life.

I haven't even hit thirty yet and I lost the ability to run.

---

So quit fucking around on the internet, put your life on hold and attend to your injuries.

God bless and the best of luck.