Shin splints caused by drinking soda?

(Washington)

Hi, I heard from someone that carbonated drinks can cause shin splints and I was wondering if it's true.

I haven't been able to find anything on it. About a year ago, I started getting shin splints occasionally from jogging.

I find this a little odd, since I used to play lacrosse and never had shin splints then, even though I was doing much more running!

Anyway, I don't want this to be an ongoing problem and am trying to be more careful, so I was wondering if this means I should stop drinking soda, too.

Thanks.



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Joshua Answers:

Hi there.

In and of itself, soda does not cause shin splints.

Having said that, all the sugar and other BAD stuff in soda takes away from your body's overall health level, which leaves it less able to keep you operating at top level.

This includes nutritional insufficiency, both because it's empty calories, and because the body uses up vitamins and minerals to metabolize sugar.

Depending on how much you drink, depending on other lifestyle variables like how and what you eat, how you exercise (or not), affect your muscles' ability to function optimally.

Shin Splints are a problem of too tight muscles and too tight connective tissue. Too tight, constricted muscles can't work very well, so they can't absorb force like they should. And all that force has to go somewhere....which is where all the microtrauma happens.


Find out more about Shin Splints


Shin splints, like all forms of Tendonitis, is a progressive dynamic of increasing tightness and pain. So I'm not at all surprised that you never had a problem, and now you do.

That's just how the tendonitis dynamic works...it sneaks up on you. Shin splints are developing underneath the surface of your skin long before you feel it.

You were active with sports, muscles and connective tissue got tighter over time, tiny microtrauma happened in the tissue, inflammation process kicked in at small levels. You didn't feel it, but it adds up over time. It slowly gets more irritible, then one day you irritate it (by doing something that never bothered you before) and feel pain/problem.


See: What Is Tendonitis?


Were I you, I absolutely -would- stop drinking soda (for all the reasons that EVERRYBODY should stop drinking soda pop drinks), but mostly because A. there is nothing at all good for you in it, and B. it has negative effects on the body.

But not because sugary, chemical filled drinks directly act as a cause of shin splints.



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Joshua Tucker, B.A., C.M.T.
The Tendonitis Expert
www.TendonitisExpert.com