DEAR DR. DONOHUE: What can be done to prevent shin splints? My 17-year-old son gets them every year at the beginning of football season. They seem to start when he starts wearing cleats. Should he only wear good running shoes for conditioning running? What about shock-absorbing insoles? – T.S.

ANSWER: Shin splints encompass so many different conditions that it’s practically a meaningless term. People call any pain between the knee and ankle “shin splints.” The shin is the tibia bone, the larger of the two lower leg bones.

Minute fractures of that bone (stress fractures) are one cause of shin splints. Inflammation of the periosteum, the covering of the tibia, is another cause. Swelling of the leg’s muscle compartment also qualifies as shin splints. If your son comes down with them again, he must be correctly diagnosed for proper treatment and prevention.

In the meantime, he can do a few things on his own. You’re right about shoes. He needs shock absorption in his football shoes, and he can try a number of cushioning inserts, found just about everywhere.

After every practice and every game, he should ice his shins for 15 to 20 minutes.

It’s probably too late for him to do this now, but if the season has not yet begun, he can start wearing his cleats at home during the day, and gradually his feet and legs will get used to them before he has to wear them for extended periods of time.

Taping his lower legs might help. An elastic wrap from ankle to calf is all that’s needed.

This year, if the pain comes back, get him to the doctor promptly for early treatment and for a specific diagnosis so he won’t miss the entire season.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am a 35-year-old female who weighs 170 pounds and is 5 feet 4 inches tall. I think I have an apple frame. From the hips down I am average, maybe even have chicken legs. But from there up, I could play linebacker. I walk every day and restrict my diet, but I don’t lose any weight. I can’t afford a gym membership. Can you give me some exercises that focus on problem areas? – K.B.

ANSWER: An apple is one whose waist is larger than the hips. A pear is just the opposite – large hips, small waist. It’s unhealthy to be an apple. Apples have too much fat surrounding their abdominal organs. That fat causes problems. For one, it blunts the effect of insulin on lowering blood sugar.

A woman’s waist should be 35 inches (89 cm) or less; a man’s, 40 (102).

There are no exercises that remove fat from a particular area, like the waist. The only way to get rid of fat is to burn more calories than you take in. If you do so, fat leaves – it leaves all over, so it takes a while to see it disappear from problem areas. You can do hundreds and hundreds of sit-ups and sit-up variations, and fat will not disappear just from the abdomen. It leaves all body-fat depots equally.

I know this is maddeningly simplified, and I know there are people who exercise hard and watch what they eat but still have trouble getting the pounds off. These people, in spite of their sincere efforts, have to cut back further on calories and have to increase the time and intensity of exercise. Life is not fair.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Which is the better way to lose weight – running or weightlifting? I hate running, but I like to lift weights. However, my body weight is staying the same. Why? – G.L.

ANSWER: Weightlifting burns fewer calories than running or other kinds of aerobic exercise, like swimming, jogging, biking and rope-jumping.

A 150-pound man burns about 432 calories in one hour of vigorous weightlifting. He burns 648 calories running somewhat hard for one hour.

Weightlifting does have one advantage. The muscles it builds burn calories even when a person is at rest. Resting fat burns no calories.

You don’t have to make this an either/or proposition. Why not do both?



Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com.