Do Compression Socks Help Prevent Shin Splints?
Imagine that it’s a sunny day, and you’re ready to work out. So, you put on your running shoes and go outside. As you run and feel all the endorphin that the exercise produces, you feel a certain discomfort in your leg. Soon enough you can tell that something is wrong.
The discomfort becomes a massive pain in your calves. What you are feeling is what is also known as a shin splint. This is pain caused by the overuse of the shinbone. It’s painful and limiting to your movements.
Now, one of the main recommendations when it comes to shin splints are compression socks. Still, do compression socks help prevent shin splints? The answer is yes. Compression socks help prevent shin splints and even alleviate the pain, if it has already happened, through their compression technology.
There’s some argument to the effectiveness of compression socks. Some scientists argue that the problem is that regulating the blood flow will not prevent or help heal injuries. Now, even though is important to point out that the argument exists, their effectiveness is widely accepted.
Every time that you exercise, your muscles get stressed. This motion can cause micro lesions throughout the tissue. At one point, all this stress may result in an actual injury. What the socks will do for you is to increase blood flow and make those lesions heal faster, thus preventing an injury altogether.
Now, to better understand how the whole system works, below you have a more in-depth look into the technology of the compression socks.
Remembering that a shin splint is still an injury on the shinbone and not the muscles surrounding it, the compression socks are still quite effective on the prevention of it. This happens because they help protect it from the stress of the exercise.
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Blood Flow
If you’re familiar with how icing works, you have a good idea of how compression socks work. Even though it isn’t the exact same thing, the principle is the same. When you ice an injury or compress it, you create a different pressure than normal on the area.
This causes blood flow to increase. This is important because it will help not only the temperature to be managed by your body but also will help the body heal faster. Also, a few of the symptoms like swelling will be under control.
Now, before talking about healing, let’s talk about prevention. The compressions socks will make the musculature firmer. This is crucial to avoid injuries and prevent them altogether.
Blood flow, that is increased by the compression socks, play a big role in that. Now, it’s important that you wear socks every time that you work out. They’ll act as extra protection to your legs.
Compression
Close your eyes and imagine yourself running. As you do it, you won’t notice but your muscles will suffer micro lesions. That’s all okay, but you might get injured due to fatigue.
That’s what the compression technology does for you. When you compress the muscles, it makes them firmer and steadier. This avoids the injuries by making your legs more stable as you walk or run.
In the case of shin splints, it happens due to the overuse of the bone and the musculature surrounding it. This means that the injury occurs because there are stress and fatigue in the area.
The best you can do to prevent it, it’s to use methods that get rid of or reduce the fatigue. Compression is on the top of the list in that case. It works because it makes sure that the tissue heals faster before it breaks.
So, the main reason to use compression socks is the most obvious one. Their compression around the area. Now, as you now understand, this happens due to the benefits of compressing the musculature surrounding the shinbone.
Prevention
Besides making use of compression socks, there are other ways to prevent shin splints. The best you can do is to warm up before exercising. Now, there’s a right way to do it, so make sure your trainer teaches you the proper way to do it.
Also, you have to pay attention to your body. Knowing your limits is the best way to prevent any injury. Most often than not, an injury can be prevented just by paying attention to signs such as discomfort and a pulling sensation on the muscle.
You can also prevent a shin splint by having healthy habits that respect the functioning of your body. This means that you drink a lot of water and the necessary ingredients to make the musculature heal faster.
Make sure that you don’t go too much over your limit. If you work out too much, you’re more likely to have an injury. This is just a way for the body to let you know that it’s exhausted and that you passed the limits in a bad way.
So, just make sure that you know your limits and that you wear the compression socks every time you work out. You’ll notice a difference in performance as well.
Socks or Sleeves
Obviously, compression socks and sleeves are for the same thing just not in the same area. They both have the same use and the same efficacy for preventing injuries.
Now, it’s important that you’re aware that if you don’t want to wear both at the same time that the better option is the socks. You’re more likely to injure your legs than your arms. For that reason, you should wear protection where the chances of injury are greater.
Now, if your work out consists of more exercises that will involve your arms, the sleeves come back to the game. The main thing is that they do not interfere with one another. The problem is that a considerable amount of people don’t like to wear both at the same time.
So, if from a trusted manufacturer, they both work really well in preventing all kinds of injuries. The important thing is that you make a habit out of wearing them. You’ll notice that you’ll get injured less and that your overall performance will improve.
Icing
Some old school people think that icing is a better option than compression socks. They couldn’t be farther from the truth. Compression socks win by a mile because they’re all about preventing an injury in the first place.
Icing in itself doesn’t heal anything. The method actually helps reducing swelling and helps the body to heal faster. Now, when it comes to preventing injuries, icing doesn’t work at all. Compression socks do.
The best you can do is to wear them at every practice that you do even if you think it’s light exercise. Now, make sure that the socks are compressing your legs in the right amount. This means that the compression socks aren’t creating any kind of discomfort for you. If it does, you should change the size or the model.
So, at any time of the day, choose compression socks. They’ll help you with injury prevention and even enhancement on performance. It’s actually one of the best accessories in the market at the moment. Click here for compression socks that are highly rated on Amazon and that I recommend.
Recovery
Compression socks are great to prevent injuries, but they are also great to help the progression of the injury and even the recovery. What the compression sock really does is to increase blood circulation. This will make the cells move faster and the healing of the body to happen more efficiently.
Now, you should consult your physician first to make sure that you can do it and for how long you should do it. Still, the compression socks will help your body recover faster from a shin splint.
It will probably take a while, but you’ll recover faster than if you do not use the compressions socks. The most important thing is that you make common practice for you to wear them while you exercise. This way you’ll prevent most of the injuries anyway.
So, just make sure that you use them from time to time to help fasten your recovery, and always wear it during a workout. It will make your performance better and safer for your bones and muscles.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, compression socks should be seen as crucial wardrobe items for anyone who exercises. They can be life saviors and prevent the most bothersome injuries that you can have from a simple walk around the park.
Now, it is important that you pay attention to see if the socks are compressing efficiently to make sure that they’re working as it should. Also, you can wear them to assist with your recovery. It’s not their main use and it may not be recommended depending on what you have, but you should definitely consider it.
That’s it. So, the answer is yes. Compression socks do help prevent shin splints. The beauty of the answer is that it does more than that. It helps prevent a bunch of other injuries that you might have from running and exercising. Click here for the latest pricing for compression socks that I recommend.