 Poster: A snowHead
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Had shin splints when i last tried snowboarding - would love to give it a proper go but hurts too much - does/has anyone else had this problem?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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My sister in law got it when she was first learning. i realised late in the week that it was because the board was too wide. She had no overhang front or back so had to work very very hard to get a heel edge. So try a narrower board or move your bindings so that your toes are nearer the edge.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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the feet should be central over the board otherwise it will be a nightmare to control - but ashton is right that a narrower board requires less grunt to switch from edge to edge
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Nick-o, It's a common prob if you've got your hi-backs too upright, your legs are too straight and you're trying to control everything through your toes with just your lower leg strength and that is constantly putting high stresses into the tendon attachments of the tib & fib. You're fighting against the support of your bindings and boots and not using their built in support.
You should be able relax your knees and slouch your body-weight vertically down into the balls of your feet. If you do this in your bindings, you'll find that the binding itself starts to support the weight and will edge the board without any deliberate toe pressure. The rest of the load is taken up by the larger muscles in the calf via the achilles tendon. THe more you drop down, the harder you'll edge.
Try it and you'll find that you can hold a toe edge traverse for ages.
CEM has good advice for strengthening the muscle groups, but severe shinsplints can be quite bad tearing of the bone ligament interface, so if it's really painful, get yourself down the doc's and be prepared to take some proper time out for full repair and rehab
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drink more.. you'll be fine
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Thanks for the advice i'm going to start those exercises this evening while watching TV! I take it somewhere like Boots will sell footbeds?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Thanks for the advice i'm going to start those exercises this evening while watching TV! I take it somewhere like Boots will sell footbeds?
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Nick-o,
Nick, get yourself to a good ski / snowboard shop, don't buy the c*%! they sell in boots, look at Superfeet or conformable, sutom is better than off the shelf, but off the shelf is a start
good luck
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Nick-o wrote: |
| Had shin splints when i last tried snowboarding - would love to give it a proper go but hurts too much - does/has anyone else had this problem? |
were you using soft boots?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Going to Soldeu in February 2006...can anyone tell me the best way to get ski pass? should I order it now or get it there?
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CEM, I'm gonna twist yer tit a bit 'cos I don't believe that good bootfitting is a panacea for poor technique. I'm happy to agree that comfortable feet are important but when it comes to a physiological problem of the nature of 'shinsplints' (if that is what this thread is truly about) it's more about fitness, good riding skills and an appropriate equipment setup . . . of which bootfitting is a only a part.
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You know it makes sense.
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Masque,
didn't even suggest it was but the fact remains that Nick suffers from shin splints, the main cause of which is a weakness in the anterior tibialis muscle caused primarily by excessive pronation, to reduce excessive pronation you stabilise the foot with a FOOTBED so where it is not everything it is a dam good start!!!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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CEM, I think this is where we diverge. AFAIWT, Shinsplints is a repetitive stress injury to the tibia bone surface covering ( inflammation of the periosteum) where the ankle and toe flexors attach. Where this interface is overstressed it will tear between the ligaments and the bone and if ignored can develop into a severe and debilitating injury (it can take months to repair and rehab a bad case). While orthitics will support and control the foot position into a good bio-dynamic it won't remove the cause of the repetitive strain. To partially counter my own argument, getting your feet into a comfortable and supported position will certainly allow you concentrate on the rest of the potential causes of the shinsplints.
I'm not knocking good bootfitting, but if Nick-o is actually suffering from shinsplints rather than just muscle ache from lactic acid build-up in muscles that are not usually worked very hard . . . then there's a lot more going on in his riding.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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CEM, one of the hazards of commenting on line is the equivalence to waving a white stick about:? No I've not swallowed a dict' but I have suffered from shinsplints through over-training, and though fatigue, developed bad technique that caused the condition and it took a couple of months off and a complete change in the training regime to eliminate. I also had to learn quite a bit about it for some of the sport related exams I managed to pass.
I'm not dissing you and I also acknowledge I'm fortunate to have not (as yet) needed the services of a bootfitter. I don't have specialist knowledge of foot stability dynamics but I do have a good grasp of whole body dynamics and by default I tend to look at a larger picture. Both my son and a couple of his mates suffered from mild shinsplints a couple of years ago and the cause was just that they'd slackened off their hi-backs while playing in the park and were repeatedly lifting and holding their toes against the toe strap to initiate heelside turn and control. Lots of repeated high stress to the shin, especially while trying to recover from missed landings.
Aye, we could both be barking up the wrong tree, but all we can offer here is a range of thoughts that Nick-o can use to evaluate his condition and perhaps find that a multiple approach to alleviating the discomfort may help. We haven't even mentioned boot tightness around the shin or friction discomfort.
Peace? 
(edit for crappy grammar)
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Sun 8-01-06 11:00; edited 1 time in total
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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CEM, as far as I was trained 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Masque,
gotcha
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Interesting thread. A doctor friend pointed me this way when asking her about my snowboard ankle pain. I have suffered from a sporadic pain in the upper ankle that if not relaxed causes an additional sensation of numbness up the outer side of the calf muscle. This only occurs in my downhill foot. It has occurred just for the mornings on a long weekend when the pistes were hard (and maybe I was desperate to control travel). It is exacerbated in icy conditions or on goat tracks. I discovered last week that loosening the boot helps. Normally I would take off the boot and relax then the symptoms would desist. Funnily enough last season on a 3 day powder blitz the affliction did not rear it's ugly head. I have boarded for 12 seasons and it has only happened at various occasions in the last 4 seasons. I have had 3 different, high end $$$ boots and two bindings set ups in this time. All result in the same. I feel that the symptom develops in bad, hard packed conditions where I subconciously adopt defensive tendencies to my stance. Opening the knees and adjusting the weight distribution on the foot is something I am working on in this case. Any ideas out there? 
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snorkyvandyke, sounds like you've identified the problem, it's called Sphincter Puckerus . . . you've just got to learn to relax and love crisp and crusty conditions . . . Try the glacier at Tignes pre-season, you'll soon learn to set an edge and relax into it sliding on grey ice 
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snorkyvandyke,
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I discovered last week that loosening the boot helps.
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My guess would be that you've already found the problem!
Boots/straps too tight? Tend to do them up tighter on hard packed snow for better control. This resticts blood flow back up leg, especially on toe edge. leading to cramping etc. That could be why its ok in powder - straps not as tight plus keeping weight further back takes some pressure off front foot.
Just a guess!?!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Nick-o, Masque, CEM,
Just out of interest, did any of you skateboard before you snowboarded?
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make sure the (adjustable) high backs are not pushing too far forward in to your calf otherwise you will always have pressure on to the toe edge and your shin, which might be causing the problem
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Nick-o,
I may be way off beam here but I think the problem is caused by you trying to get a heel edge by raising your toes.
Think about it - with the boots we wear, even done up loosely, the flex you can get at the ankle by moving the toes is negligible. Edge changing is achieved by weight distribution, not by angling the board. I find it helpful to think: shin touching boot front = toe edge, calf touching boot back = heel edge. It automatically happens as you link turns if you time it right and have the right stance - knees bent, high-back slightly forward.
Sorry if I've repeated some others' comments and gone on too much!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Some good confirmation there. Gonna have to get my stance right and learn to cure myself of Sphincterus Puckerus. I have just realised that this afflication coincides with me widening and ducking my stance about 4 years ago. Maybe I should revert to a narrower stance that suits me better? Steez for pain. A fair trade. I suppose the better ones technique the less the need to weld oneself to the board. Those straps could be looser. Gonna try all this out in Saas Fee in a few weeks.
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