Hi all I'm new to the forum and I know you guys n gals are always helping out and I've got a problem I need help with, I'm hoping for a little advice.

I got Scarpa ZG 65 GTX ladies Boots back in September and eventually got round to wearing them in October. I walk with a club twice a month and until yesterday we had been doing shorter walks a la winter time. My lady scarpa's were doing great until then apart from the fact the laces always but always loosened in the middle of a walk and they hated any snow or ice resulting in a bruised derriere a couple of times and also I think I probably need a volume adjuster for one foot.

Anyhoo.

I walked 10 miles yesterday in varying terrain in the aberfoyle area, most of the hike was quite good LRT with a couple of miles rough and a similar amount bloody tarmac/pavement which I loathe walking on at the best of times. I couldn't believe that I developed shin splints this morning on one leg enough to make me hobble, you all know how painful it is and if you don't consider yourself blessed!! Now this evening I have pain developing in my other shin.

Now believe this or not but I hiked 10 miles or more routinely all summer with a crappy pair of trespass leather boots and not once did I even come close to a blister, lace loosening or even sore feet once in 5 months.

I can't believe they did this, so much for the claim of: 

"Extra low density polyurethane midsole gives great shock-absorption"

Are they fit now for only wee short walks or am I back to my smelly old tresspass muckas or can anyone recommend any super duper cushion insoles??? I do like the boots but will not wear them again until I get something sorted.

Thanks in advance oh and pleased to meet you all.

Welcome Wee One.

My thoughts on Scarpa ZGs are well-documented on here. Their mid-soles are as hard as Hard Jack McHard and when I wear mine for more than about 2-3 miles the soles of the balls of my feet burn and eventually blister. Sorbothane cushioned insoles negate this but then I can't fit my orthotics in and so I get achilles tendon pain. It never happens with any other boots. Most folk get on with them but I have heard of others finding Scarpas hard underfoot/

Rock, hard place, stuck between. I cannot get on with them. 

Hello Ninja Pussy Cat and thanks for the welcome!!

 You've just reminded me I had a tender achilles tendon also last night but it's away now. Sorbothane you say?? I'll need to google.

I came within a cat's whisker of blisters in the ball bit of your foot between the big toe and it's neighbour on both feet but thankfully I got away with it. Sigh.

 I have a wee pair of berghaus that my OH brought in from  TK maxx but I'm too wary to try them, they feel odd at the heel as if they don't fit right there but are okay everywhere else. There isn't heel lift exactly, you couldn't actually say that's what it was but it's just not right. Pity though nice pair of boots they are and a lot of my fellow club members wear them.

Am away to check out all your photies and stuffz. Thank you for your input much appreciated.

Berghaus booties are OK but can be a bit spacious. I had some that were great for about 4 years then got a bit misshapen due to being wet too often and started giving me blisters of biblical proportions.

Have you tried Salomon ones? I have Scarpa-shaped feet and Salomon ones also seem to suit me. Meindl have a similar fit also but can be a bit spacious like the Berghaus. 

Wee Alli,

it took me a long time to get to the bottom of why I (sometimes) suffer shin splints when running and what to do about it.

You may already be on the right track (Scarpa soles have been getting harder over the years) regarding the cushioning...

But as an alternative suggestion...

first understand what causes the ache in the front of your shins. There are many explanations, but the one aimed at runners makes sense to me (having read quite a lot on the subject):

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0608.htm

Shin splints in this case are a result of fatigue on the dorsiflexor muscles controlling the downward movement when your foot strikes the ground. Good cushioning will mask this effect (enough to make it go away) but doesn't actually treat the problem : ineffecient motion of your foot.

It may well be that the heavier and more solid sole of the Scarpas is not just reducing your cushioning but also fatiguing your shin muscles. So either you can work on strengthening them and learning to walk with a gait that puts less stress on them... or you can find an alternative footwear that allows you to move in a more natural manner.

Usually this could be found in a lighter trail shoe, but if you need something for winter then finding a boot that allows a natural movement of your foot and ankle is probably going to help.

Adding cushioning (sorbothane, spenco etc.)  to the Scarpas might make the shin splints go away... but it could be disguising an underlying problem that you could learn to correct...

Paddy

"but all you can do is to rest until they go away"

true, once you are suffering from them (although strategic taping can help too). But as prevention is better than cure... I'd still recommend doing what you can to identify the root cause.

And while shin splints probably won't do you any serious harm, they can mask more serious problems (bone fragments shearing off under impact for example). So it's better to investigate and avoid recurrence...

I had this problem for on and off for several years and it was not until I started some very simple strengthening exercises did I get rid of the problem. Even now if I don't do the exercises once or twice a week the shin splints start to return. Mine were anterior (high up on the outside of the shin) and would bizarly not arrive for a couple of days after a big day in the hill, very painfull and disabling.

Reiver,

do you think you could describe the exercises that you did? Are they anything like the Peak Performance suggestions I linked above?

Personally, I have found that with a more conscious effort to adjust my running gait and the inevitable strengthening that comes with regular use, I rarely get shin splints anymore. Using Mizuno Wave shoes to run in has also been a great help as far as I can tell.

Even under heavy trekking loads, I haven't really felt shin splints from walking. I suppose it must be the additional stress of running that triggered it.

I suffered from shin splints while doing a lot of training on rock hard grass. I really do feel for you as they are a pain in the bum!!!

Here is what I did to resolve the problem - it may work for you - it may not!

Rest, until you do not feel any pain when walking around normally. Don't be tempted to do any running or proper walks, the pain will just come back!

Then do this BARE FOOT exercise in the morning and in the evening - stand with your back to a wall and your heels about foot a way. Putting your weight on your heels, lift your feet up off the floor (towards your shins) as far as they can go and hold them for 5 seconds. Repeat this for 10 times. Then do the exercise as fast as possible so that you are lifting your feet to their maximum stretch and back to the floor as quickly as possible for 30 seconds. Gradually increase the timings if you do not feel anymore pain.

After a while, progress to walking round on your heels with your feet lifted as high as possible. Walk round the house like it - or anytime your not going to make a fool of yourself!!!

Quite often the cause of shin splints is due to a slight collapse of the arch of your foot as you get older or through exercise wearing over cusioned footware. A corrective insert that makes you feel like you are walking on the outside of your feet is recommended in this case - it worked for me.

The Scarpa's are not giving you shin splints - they are just not as forgiving or hide your problem as well as other footware. Research now shows that highly cusioned footware is to blame, as it causes the feet and legs to become weaker, as they rely on the cusioning for support. Communities around the world who do not wear any footware and instead go bare feet from birth, never suffer any of the problems that us "advanced civilized" people do! Simply increasing the amount of cusioning is masking th problem and in fact making your legs even weaker.

Hope that helps and things get better soon.

Alli 

I've suffered from shin splints a lot and can tell you it normally has little to do with shock coming through the boot.  Shin splints often caused by an imbalance somewhere in your legs etc (or so I have been told by my Consultant and various physios and podiatrists).  So I reckon that you might be blaming the boots midsole unnecessarily.

You mentioned needing a volume adjustment for one boot- I suspect there lies your problem - get your feet and legs checked out by a physio.  As for running treatment hot and cold compresses really helped me (but you may be different from me).  Icing the affected area before and after really seemed to help - athough as John says there might be another underlying condition.

They kept returning for me until I got help - but I was put on calf stretching exercises and given orthotic insoles and so far (touches wood) they haven't come back since.  I think the cause for me was that, as a climber, I had over-developed my calves which caused an imbalance in the legs, which only happened to manifest itself when I went running. 

A little test is to stand one foot in front of the other close to a wall and, with your heel still planted, see how far you can push your knee forwards - you will probably find that one leg has more flexibility than the other. 

John,

 The Peak Performance exercises seem just to deal with the much more common medial shin splints this I understand to be the boney area on the inside oft he shins, my problem was "Anterior Shin Splints" this being the more fleshy area on the outside of the shin bone.

My problem seemed to be caused while walking down slopes where the front of the foot would be going lower than the heel, hence the exercises aimed at my problem is designed  to strengthen the shin for this movement. Take a look at this utube vid of me doing the exercise. The weight is approx 8kg of sand with the crux of the exercise being the slow and controlled lowering of the foot.

If i do 20 reps of this exercise every other day I don't get shin splints, but I forget, and after  a month or so, I soon get a reminder when the shin splints return!

Wow just home from work and I'm bowled over with the response, some very interesting observations and zillions to read and take in. I shall certainly be spending a good part of tomorrow morning going over this thread in greater detail.

Thanks guys!!!

Generally, I've found shit splints to be a result of bad technique, rather than kit. I've never suffered while walking, but while running... geez! I ran in a pair of brand new New Balance trainers on tarmac the other day, and my shins hurt like they never had before, but it was down to technique - having had an injury and not run for a while - not kit. Rocky has it right when he says to go bare foot - it gives you an intimate relationship with the ground in the way no shoe/boot/trainer can. If you can walk/run barefoot for 1/10 of the distance that you can shoed/booted/trainered then that's good going, and it may be an equipment problem. If you can't, it's likely technique to blame, perhaps brought about as over-compensation for previous injuries, or previous kit, or, more likely, just the way you've always worked.

My running has always suffered from shit splints to a lesser or greater degree, but you can get rid of it for walking or running by working hard at it and concentrating on an even and balanced distribution of weight, as well as working the hell out of whatever muscle is in that lower leg

Mr Fuller,

I've found shit splints to be a result of bad technique...

My running has always suffered from shit splints...

I am not sure if you intended those typos, but they're certainly appropriate... and certainly due to bad technique!

I think the Scarpa boots have a particularly high heel, and high heels are associated with shin-splints, so perhaps that's why you get a problem in the Scarpa boots, but not the Trespass ones. If they are also less flexible you will be stopping your foot working naturally and so subjecting the rest of your body to unnecessary stress.

Reiver and all

 I have been feeling about my legs this morning and came across an extremely tender part just below the knee to the outside of my shin. I think mine is the same as yours was/is so I will have to do those exercises to help combat it. Cheers!!

I've decided against a cushy insole then, if it's only going to mask a problem I might end up getting shin splints again so I will persevere. I must admit though I will make use of my tresspass boots for my next walk on 15th march to give my legs a fighting chance. Or is that a bad idea??? 

Have an exceptionally nice day all you lovely, helpful people!!