The bottom line
Ivy Slavinski, a track and field athlete, is getting there with her shin splints but isn't yet running as much as she used to. At Thrive in Monmouth County, NJ, Dr. Vinny Zappola, DC, adjusts her, and one of our physical therapists treats her with ice massage, ankle strengthening and calf stretches. The goal is her old running volume.
- Ivy Slavinski
- Track athlete
- Running
- Building back up
- Same visit
- Chiro and PT
- Focus
- Ankles and calves
Shin splints in a runner
Ivy runs track and field. She came to us with shin splints, a sports injury that shows up as pain along the shinbone.
How we're treating her shin splints
On one visit, Ivy saw Dr. Vinny Zappola, one of our chiropractors, for an adjustment, and he worked on her calves and shins. Then she came straight over to physical therapy. Chiropractic care and physical therapy share one building at Thrive, so one visit can cover both.
Our physical therapist started with ice massage, which calms the inflammation in the shin. Massaging the tissue matters, but so does keeping the swelling down: the space in the lower leg is fixed, so the more swelling there is, the less blood reaches her feet and the less well she can use her legs. Ice massage strikes that balance.
We're also strengthening Ivy's ankles, working on her ankle and foot stability, and stretching both of her calf muscles, the gastroc and the soleus. The soleus is the one people forget: you stretch it with the knee bent, where the usual straight-knee calf stretch reaches the gastroc.
Working back to her usual running
Ivy is getting there. She isn't running as much as she used to yet, and getting her back to that volume is what her care is working toward.
Key takeaways
- Ivy Slavinski, a track and field athlete, is treated for shin splints at Thrive in Monmouth County, NJ, with chiropractic care and physical therapy, both of which can happen in one visit.
- For Ivy's shin splints, our physical therapist at Thrive uses ice massage, which calms inflammation while keeping swelling down. The space in the lower leg is fixed, so swelling cuts blood flow to the feet.
- Ivy's physical therapy at Thrive also strengthens her ankles, works on ankle and foot stability, and stretches both calf muscles: the gastroc with the knee straight and the soleus with the knee bent.
- Ivy is getting there with her shin splints, and the goal of her care at Thrive is to get her back to the volume she used to run at.
