According to a study published in PLOS One, of the 900 newbie runners followed by Danish researchers , 27% got injured in the first year of running and shin splints was the most common injury.
In the article published in PLOS One, Danish researchers followed 933 newbie runners, defined as someone has not run a total of 10K or (6.2 miles) in any given run. To see how many got injured, what injuries were incurred and the recovery time… Before we get started let’s define an injury, according to the article it’s any pain in the low back or legs that were severe enough to stop or cut training (distance, duration, pace or frequency ) for at least one week. 254 participants met the criteria of having an injury, 15% had Shin Splints AKA Medial Tibial Syndrome, 10% had Runner’s Knee AKA Patellofemoral Pain, 9% had injuries to the meniscus, 7% had Achilles tendonitis and 5% had Plantar Fasciitis or injury to the soleus.
Stress fractions was not commonly seen, that probably because new runners miles were so low that it did not create a significant risk for that injury… 75% of the injuries occurred within the first 155 miles ran.
Healing times for injuries varied among the runners… Calf injuries took about 0-40 days to heal, those with shin splints took an average of 75 days to recover; Plantar Fasciitis took about 159 days …The good news is of the 220 of the 254 injured runners recovered by the end of the 1 year study period.
The study findings emphasized the importance of new runners being mindful of shin splints…. If you are a new runner, take some precautions to prevent injuries… Start slow, stretch before and after each work out, cross train, and foam roll. As a big guy or girl you definitely have to start slow. I have shin splints before and it hurts like hell. It felt like my shins was on fire…It’s only something that I would wish in my worst enemy.
Have you ever had shin splints before? What did you do to heal it? If you never had shin splits what did you do to prevent them?
Until next time!
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