Help shin splint

While playing softball I injured my shin on my right leg. The inside area of my shin really hurts especially when I run.  Not cool, because I love running ;( I believe it might be a shin splint.  Any advice on how to treat and fix this pain? Or how long it will take to heal?

Ouch! Sorry to say that I don't know how long it'll take to heal. Have you gotten it checked out by a doctor? 

My worst fear is shin splints!

Most people I've known who had them just had to take it easy with their running.

When I had them I was told by the doctor to stop even walking, just do what I needed to do till the pain subsided.

Then he sent me to buy some decent walking shoes and I was told to start out very slowly and to stop if it started to hurt.

It worked, this was way last year and it took a month to heal.

If its shinsplints do the "RICE"  Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate 

Get an ice pack on it rest for a few days put an ace bandage and elevate it whenever possible. 

 Shinsplints can develop into hairline fractures so be sure to take it easy.  Search online for information.  There are stretches to do that will help too.  I have shinsplints and don't walk on inclines anymore and forget running until its healed.

If you were injured, it might not be what most people call shin splints, you could already have a hairline fracture.  Go see a doc!

Shin splints tend to be "overuse" injuries so if you had no pain one moment and pain the next, I would say it's probably a fracture and not shin splints. However, the pain you describe does sound like shin splints. I had them all the time in high school. The only thing you can do is rest, unfortunately. Try swimming and biking as alternate exercises. Then when you are healed, you should do 2 things:

1) go to a shoe store with staff who are trained in how to select a shoe that fits with the way you run. Fleet Feet is a national chain that does this. They'll watch you run and look at the wear on your old shoes. Ever since I started shopping there, i've been shin-splint free.

2) start slowly. This is always hard for me but you should cross train before jumping back into running and try to limit your distance, increasing it gradually.