Most people wear shoes that keep them from living life to its fullest. Badly fitting shoes with poor design cause more harm to your joints, muscles and overall posture than good. Shin splints are one of the most common foot injuries nowadays in developed countries. The best walking shoes for shin splints reduce the extend of the condition.
At the end of the article I will recommend three of the best walking shoes for shin splints. These are:
- NewBalance Men’s MW847V2 Walking Shoe
- Skechers Performance Go Walk 3 Walking Shoe
Rockport Chranson Walking Shoe
What is shin splints?
The fancy, scientific name for shin splints is Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome. The tibia is the inside area behind you shinbone. If you walk or run a lot, you put insane pressure on this area of your feet.
Shin splints occur most often to runners who don’t build up their training regimen gradually, but instead start running too much too soon. The legs can’t take the sudden increase in training load. Unbalanced muscles, poor running form only makes matters worse. Both the outside and the inside of the leg can get inflamed. These are called anterior and medial shin splints.
When they develop shin splints, some people try to power through the pain. That is the worst idea! Don’t be like those people. Instead try sitting out a few days, get massages, or invest in a pair of the best walking shoes for shin splints.
Sometimes small tears in the muscles are also referred to as shin splints. Originally it refers to the inflammation of the periosteum, a small tissue that wraps around the shin bone.
Most often the dominant leg suffers from shin splints first. It can happen from increasing mileage, insufficient stretching, excessive stress placed on one leg from always running on poor quality roads or on the same track.
Usually new runners suffer from anterior shin splints. They want to go from zero to hero, and overload their body with unrealistic training volume. The anterior tibialis muscle works overtime, to control the landing force on the front foot.
Imbalances in the leg muscles result in posterior shin splints. This can be a result of too tight calf muscles, or pronated, flat feet. These flat arches are extremely problematic, they force to stretch the posterior tibialis muscle. The muscle gets damaged as the result of the constant stretching.
What are the best options for treating shin splints?
Shin splint treatment can involve one, or several of the following options:
- Deep tissue massage.
- Applying medical tapes on the leg.
- Wearing compression sleeves for shin splints. Compression stockings, or socks for shin splints.
- Continued physical therapy.
- Wearing one of the best walking shoes for shin splints.
- Posture alignment therapy, reducing muscle imbalances.
Do I suffer from shin splints? How to diagnose yourself?
Shin splints are the kind of thing you don’t forget. If you already had them, you remember the pain behind the shinbone. If you are reading about shin splints here first, here are the symptoms:
- Sensitive, slightly red skin around your shinbone.
- Aching and inflammation in the front of your leg.
- Pain around your anterior tibia – anterior shin splints.
- Small bumps and aching leg – posterior shin splints.
The above symptoms can signal a different condition too. It is wise to go to the doctor, and get him to perform a series of tests. Maybe even have your leg X-rayed or MRI.
Ankle pronation and shin splints
The best walking shoes for shin splints largely depends on your ankle pronation. Here are a few shoes recommendations based on this factor:
Overpronation
The most common type of pronation. The best shoes for shin splints with overpronating ankles are equipped with dense midsoles, and thick foot bridges.
Neutral pronation
These shoes come with great cushioning and a few stabilizing features. If you have neutral pronation, you are very lucky. You are very unlikely to get injured, but still the right walking shoes are needed to treat your shin splints and minimize the impact of your steps on the pavement.
Adidas Women’s Cloudfoam QT Racer
New Balance Men’s Fresh-Foam Cruz
Supination
This is the least common of the three ankle orientations. Extra shock absorption needed in the midsole and outsole. This is usually achieved with thicker materials in these areas.
How to heal from shin splints?
What can you do apart from wearing the best walking shoes for shin splints? There are natural remedies as well as accessories you can wear to get rid of lower leg pain.
First of all, lower your training load. Take a few rest days. Run less. Substitute running with walking. If you mustn’t stop running for some reason, then switch to gentler surfaces.
Put ice packs on your shin to reduce the inflammation. When you are at home reading, watching tv or surfing the web, put a bag of ice on your legs. Pay attention to not put the icebag directly on your leg to avoid skin burns.
Stretch your achilles and your calves. There is an excellent stretching exercise that can help you get rid of shin splints. Sit on the floor – preferably on a soft carpet – with your feet pointed back. Sit back as much as you can. The best is if you feel tension in your things and ankles. Start moving your toes. Write down the alphabet with your toes. Do it with both legs.
Stretch your achilles and calves regularly before and after exercise.
Another exercise you can do is walking for ten seconds on your heels and ten seconds on your toes. Do it several times a day to maximise both prevention and recovery.
Swimming is an excellent prevention method. Riding a bike is also great.
When returning to running increase mileage slowly. It is better to do it slowly and run less.
The best compression socks for shin splints can increase blood flow to the inflamed area. Wearing running compression socks can also work. The blood transports nutrients and the T cells of immune system to the painful area. Better blood flow results in quicker recovery and reduction in the inflammation.
What are the features of the best walking shoes for shin splints?
Wearing the best walking shoes for shin splints is essential. Some shoes have motion-control. Other shoes might need orthotics in them.
Another great idea is to wear different type of shoes. Wear two different shoes on your two legs according to the varying levels of stress on your legs.
But the best idea…and this will probably blow your mind: wear shoes that fit you. If you wear uncomfortable, poorly sized shoes, you immediately increase the risk of getting shin splints.
In the past you had to go to the store, pick out shoes that fit your budget and looked stylish, try them out and stand in line. You could spend hours without knowing if the shoes you chose would even work in the long run.
Nowadays you can easily order the best walking shoes for shin splints from the comfort of your home, and for a cut price. Although some of these shoes might not look like the most fashionable models. However they get the job done when your priority is to get rid of shin splints. The best walking shoes for shin splints will help you regain your mobility so that you can spend time with your partner, children, friends and your dog.
The best walking shoes for shin splints have thick insoles. These don’t flatten out under your weight. They also allow you to run on relatively hard surfaces. Big city people don’t have the chance to run on grass all the time.
The best soles for shoes to treat shin splints have balanced soles. These keep your feet in a balanced position. This gives a high range of walking motion and flexibility when you walk.
The best walking shoes for shin splints have to be super comfortable. You must feel like you are walking on clouds. After all if they feel uncomfortable on your feet than there is no point in wearing them even if they improve the situation with your shin splints. You would simply trade one kind of pain for another.
Breathability is another crucial feature. If you run or stand on your feet all day then it is crucial that your feet don’t end up soaking in sweat.
Maybe the best walking shoes for shin splints are not the most fashionable. But when you are in pain, you will give almost any amount of money to get rid of the pain. When you are suffering from shin splints, you don’t give a damn about how the shoes look. Having choices, looking fashionable is great. What is even better? Getting rid of shin splints.
The toe box must have a little bit of wiggle room for your toes. Make sure that no matter which model you choose, you go with the correct size. If you are not sure which size to select, go with the larger model. You can always balance it out by wearing thicker socks, or multiple socks.
NewBalance Men’s MW847V2 Walking Shoe
These shoes have excellent traction, they are solid and slip resistant on almost all surfaces. If you live in especially rainy area, the MID626K2 is an even more slip resistant model.
This model has especially carefully designed soles. It features an ABZORB foam midsole, ROLLBAR support and endurance outsole.
One of the biggest positives to buying new balance shoes is their excellent customer support. If you have any questions or issues, they go above and beyond to get it sorted out.
Click here to check prices and further reviews on Amazon
Skechers Performance Go Walk 3 Walking Shoe
The Performance GoWalk has dual midsoles made from Resalyte foam. This cushions your feet without getting flat. These soles make it feel like you would be walking on a soft yoga mat.
Another great positive of these models is that they are one of the most stylish of all the walking shoes available. They have a sporty design and they were designed with hip, young people in mind. They are available in thirteen different colours. It is impossible not to find a model that suits you.
Click here to check prices and further reviews on Amazon
Rockport Chranson Walking Shoe
Rockport uses a shock absorbing technology called ADIPRENE. Designed by Adidas, it cushions your feet and displaces force across the bottom of your feet. The shoes are wider in the toes than normal, which gives you additional wiggle room. These shoes are available only in brown and black, making them one of the blender models when it comes to style. However nobody can question their effectiveness when it comes to treating shin splints.
Click here to check prices and further reviews on Amazon
Conclusion
I hope from these models you can choose the best walking shoe for shin splints. The best walking shoes for shin splints vary on individual situations. Wearing them can be one of the best ways to deal with lower leg pain.
