<p>Now you see, if you followed Zaphod's Rule of Life # 1243, you wouldn't have any of these problems: "Exercise is for other people. Pass the potatoes, please!"</p>
<p>:D</p>
<p>My point, Ann, is that it is common to call both the bone and the muscle the tibia. As you freely use the word "shin splints", which is not medically correct, so I use the word tibia for the muscle. Since it isn't realistic to use anatomically correct words, we revert to the most commonly used phrases that provide accurate descriptions. I do not wish to debate the semantics of shin splints and related terms.</p>
<p>Our podiatrist told Jake last year before he went to NASS:
1. Get new shoes that fit properly and have enough cushion. Use only for a few months then get new ones.
2. warm up with a slow jog.
3. run on a softer surface.
4. Ice/heat
5. possibly a higher type of sock with support.</p>
<p>This year, so far so good!</p>
<p>TacticalNuke: No, this is not a game of semantics. One of the points I made in my posts is that the differential diagnosis between a muscle injury and a bone injury is important. They are treated differently and have different consequences - so to confuse the bone (tibia or fibula) with the muscle is (anterior or posterior tibialis) is not a minor error.</p>
<p>I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I'll leave the serious medical discussions to others. :)</p>
<p>But, my son suffered from shin splints throughout high school and was in a panic before he went to USMC boot camp. Despite miles and miles and miles of running (that continued when he was selected for Force Recon training), he has never suffered from them since enlisting. He credits two things: shoes that fit his feet/weight bearing points; and a simple exercise he did before going. When he sat, he tapped his feet. Strengthened the muscles of lower leg. Can't remember where he heard it, but he did it and it seems to have done the trick (in combination with the shoes.)</p>
<p>What do you think Ann?</p>
<p>(On a side note, my daughter, soccer player and soon-to-be member of USNA Class of 2010 has outrageously developed tibialis anteriors (?) and has never had a problem with shin splints. Interesting, huh?)</p>
<p>Duke80: Lower leg pain can be caused by a muscle imbalances, so strengthening the anterior muscles can definitely help. Glad to hear that your daughter has had no problems.</p>
<p>Again, thanks for your replies. I was able to have my son sit down after school and read through the postings on this thread and he seems amenable to trying some of the suggestions. He is adverse to doctors right now. (Is it a guy thing?) So, we'll see. I'm hoping it's muscular rather than bone although I truly don't know which is worse.</p>
<p>Doctor. Now.</p>
<p>Medical diagnosis over the internet is, well, silly to say the least.</p>
<p>Doctor.</p>
<p>His choice is a real doctor or a service doctor. I'd pick the real doctor.</p>
<p>"His choice is a real doctor or a service doctor. I'd pick the real doctor"</p>
<p>What is the difference between a "real doctor" and a "service doctor?"</p>
<p>kp2001,</p>
<p>I was wondering when you would ask that...</p>
<p>While you can find good and bad doctors in both fields, I would prefer to have a family physician I know look at me, versus a doctor who sees hundreds of people a day with the same problems.</p>
<p>To each their own.</p>
<p>He has the choice now to fix the problem, or he can wait and have someone that doesn't know him, and has never seen him before, try to help him when he needs to be healthy to begin with.</p>
<p>TacticalNuke:</p>
<p>I was prepared to give you an earful upon your response; however, there's no need, I can simply see that you are uninformed on a few points. I do agree with you that he should fix the problem now rather than later and would agree that seeing a physician who knows you is always best. Now onto the education:</p>
<p>Physicians in the military do not see "hundreds of people a day with the same problems." Corpsmen or medics fit this bill a little better, but not the physicians. A physician in the military sees on average the same number of people a civilian physician would see and sees the same range of disease processes as someone in the civilian world. The appointments in primary care specialties (Fam Med, Ped's, etc) are on average 15 minute appointment slots, just as they are in the land of HMO's.</p>
<p>Military physicians go through the same exact medical training as every other physician in the US. Four years of medical school followed by three to seven years of specialty training depending on the specialty. (Family Medicine/Peds/Ophtho 3yrs, Neurosurgery 7, general surgery 5-6, ortho 5-6, etc) Many of the physicians in the military are actually graduates of civilian medical schools and a lesser number are graduates of the military's own medical school USUHS. Many have undergone specialty training in civilian hospitals while others have done their specialty training in such hallowed places as Walter Reed Army Medical Center and National Naval Medical Center.</p>
<p>In summary, get the shin splints corrected sooner rather than later, and don't kid yourself, military physicians are as good or better than their civilian counterparts. Don't forget, when a military physician retires he becomes your civilian physician. You might be surprised who has served and was once a "service doctor" if you look on the walls of your personal physician's office.</p>
<p>As the relative of a former military doctor who now is the chief of his specialty at one of the most prestigious civilian hospitals in the country, I concur with kp2001.</p>
<p>Now, knowing that there will be no rest during plebe summer, that running long distances daily is probable, that sprinting shorter distances is also probable, that "chopping" during all of your first year is inevitable, and that you have a nagging medical condition which will cause great pain and interfere with performance in each of these activities, DO NOT DELAY IN GETTING IT TREATED.</p>
<p>If it means the end of this season in track, then so be it. Look at the big picture, not just today. You do not want to DQ yourself before you even start. (although I am aware that shin splints is an unlikely disqualification, I wonder if serious and permanent damage could be done by self diagnosis and subsequent delay in professional treatment)</p>
<p>If your child refuses to see the Dr., do the same thing you would have done when he did not want his medicine or immunizations as a child, exert your parental authority and overrule.</p>
<p>Good Luck,
CM</p>
<p>kp and mom,</p>
<p>You seem to have misunderstood what I said. I never said that there were NO good doctors in the field of military medicine. As I said, you'll find good and bad doctors in both the military and civilian world. I did not mean this as an insult to all military doctors, nor did I say anything which should be construed in such a manner.</p>
<p>Now, let me explain. It's a simple matter of supply, demand and economics. The military, as most people know, does not pay as well as the civilian world. What I would make starting at the company I now work for (if I went in after college) would trump what I would make in the military. Likewise, a civilian doctor is going to make a lot more money than a military doctor, in almost every case.</p>
<p>What this means is that more people, who want to go into medicine, will choose the civilian sector over the military sector, due to the pay. Whereas the military is the only place you can blow stuff up with planes, with the exception of surrounding and, of course, underlying purpose, there's no difference between military medicine and civilian medicine. Sure, the reason some people pick military is because of the service, but it's not as if there's something in military medicine that you absolutely cannot do in civilian.</p>
<p>Now, this very same effect (of less pay getting less qualified surgeons) is causing a drop in quality of civilian doctors. My old man (a vascular surgeon) is seeing it quite readily. The field of civilian medicine, because of the significant drop in pay, largely because of increasingly socialized medicine and medical malpractice claims, is paying less to doctors. In fact, one of the reasons I stopped considering medicine was because of how badly the doctors are getting hit. Medical schools are having to accept lower standard applicants, not by choice but simply because the qualification of the pool has dropped. They have a quota to meet, like the Service Academies, and they're going to meet it.</p>
<p>There are exceptions to every rule, and in this case significant ones. A lot of good people still go into civilian medicine, because it does pay well and because they believe that career has meaning for them. A lot of good people go into military medicine, because they want to practice as well as serve their country. A lot of people also go from the civilian sector into military (because they're in the reserves or guard) as a doctor when we go to war. I was just reading the other day about a top-notch neuro-surgeon joining the military as an O-6. He's done fabulously in the civilian sector but wants to serve his country.</p>
<p>So, the rule does not apply to all and I was pointing out a trend. A lot of the smartest people I know did not join the military. That's a fact. Does that mean that there are no smart people in the military? No. I would be insulting myself if I said that, and also saying something that I do not believe to be true. The reason I know a lot of really intelligent people, that do not serve, is because of the pay and the hardships of the lifestyle. I can't stand the civvie lifestyles, so I'm joining. I also have figured out that money isn't quite everything it's cut out to be.</p>
<p>In closing, I must once again reitterate that I did not imply, nor did I attempt to imply, that military doctors as a whole are bad. However, based on simple economics and personal preferences, a lot of the more qualified surgeons will go civilian. It's just how things are. The same holds true for a lot of qualified people not going to medical school, because of the current economics of medicine. And finally, it holds true for the rest of the military. A lot of the smartest people will not serve. These are the simple facts of life. If we could instill that love of country in all the smartest would-be warriors, in all the smartest surgeons, then we'd probably do it. Fact is, we can't, so the choice is left to them.</p>
<p>As stated above, these same economic factors work outside the military, specifically in the case of potential surgeons. Sure, a lot of qualified people will go in because they want to help people, and medicine pays well. However, a lot of people will see what is going on in medicine and decide it's not worth it to them. By saying this, I'm not saying that all civilian surgeons are bad, or I'd be insulting my own father. I'm merely pointing out the economic situations which shapes the personnel situation. Just because many smart and qualified people do not join the military or join the civilian surgeon force does not mean that there are no good people there. Many people's minds are less affected by the economic factors, and they are making their decisions on more personal feelings. The economic factor is but one in a myriad of things that affect the choices of people, yet it is one that does have a definite and tangible impact on personnel qualities.</p>
<p>TN: I didn't quite make my point in my response I guess. I was prepared to go ape *$x#, because I thought for sure you were going to respond that civ md's were better than military md's; however, you definately never mentioned anything like that. I wanted to clarify the suggested schedule disparity you had mentioned in your prior posting. I didn't want people thinking they would get less care from a military physician because the doc had to see hundreds of patients every day.</p>
<p>TN et al: It seems to me that going to med school and training with the military services is an EXCELLENT way to get terrific training and lots of regular and extreme practice. Also, while the term of service is quite long (I suspect kp2001 will be well into his 40s by the time his service is over), the experience as well as the fact that he will not be in $500,000 of debt is something to be considered. And he is correct, I recently went to a dermatologist to find he was formerly Navy med.</p>
<p>It's a crying shame my classmate, NavyDoc1, isn't available to answer these questions. </p>
<p>He's in Iraq saving lives. Sadly, one of his corpsmen was killed the other day by an IED. He's taking it hard, but still doing his job like a professional.</p>
<p>Prayers sent for you, Zack! Hang in there, Classmate!</p>
<p>A quick update - my son is working w/ an athletic trainer and he is getting fitted w/ a custom orthotic to even his footstrike. They are focusing on core strength. Through gait analysis they determined that the problem is correctable (and thankfully not bone fracture.)</p>
<p>Will he be done by I-Day?</p>
<p>He will be attending NASS this summer (session 1.) Sorry, I wasn't clear about that.</p>