Q:

Since the 26th of December my left shin has been hurting? Might be a shin splint? When I walk it hurts. If I have to jog across the street it feels painful. What helps to let go of some of the inflammation in my muscle?

 

A:

There are lots of things that can cause the symptoms you describe, and, as you can imagine, an exact diagnosis and prescription is impossible without actually seeing the patient.

Some general things that should be applied to pain in the musculoskeletal system are: ice applications (crushed ice in plastic bag applied to the area that hurts with a single layer of moist towel between the ice bag and the skin for 20-30 minutes 3-5x daily); rest from activity that may have caused the problem; gentle stretching of involved muscles; use of over-the-counter pain/anti-inflammatory medication, such as ibuprofen, if tolerated, in dose of 600-800 mg taken with food 3 or 4 times daily for 4-5 days. Once symptom-free, GRADUAL reintroduction of the sort of activity that may have brought on the problem can be undertaken. If the symptoms do not resolve fairly promptly, or if, despite the above steps the symptoms worsen, you should be seen by a health-care provider promptly.

~The Doc