Shin Splits

Shin Splints









What: Pain or mild swelling along your shin bone (tibia) often caused by an overload on the bone and connective tissues of the lower leg. Can occur on the medial (inside) or lateral (outside) side of the shin.

Causes: Old/worn out shoes, doing too much too soon too fast, sudden increase in mileage, walking faster than normal, jumping, running downhill or at a slant, treadmills, running stairs, impact on hard surfaces, biomechanical issues, muscle imbalances, flat arches, and over pronation.

Prevention: Increase the intensity and duration of exercise slowly. For example, if you are new to running, or have not been running in a while, it is important to gradually add more running time by running at a slow pace as long as you can and then power walking and continue to alternate running with walking. As your body adapts and your endurance improves, you will quickly be able to run longer and walk less. Proper foot wear is important to help with the impact on your bones and joints. You can always run or walk on the grass instead of the concrete path to decrease the impact. Choose low impact cardio for your off days like biking, elliptical, walking, and swimming, (instead of more high impact exercises like running), or resting the days in between class. Make sure your calves and achilles tendon get stretched well. Warm-up and slowly increase your speed.

Remedy: Rest, ice for 20 min., massage, stretching, proper shoes, strengthening, modify weight bearing exercises (always keep one foot on the ground), shin brace (found at Road Runner). Orthodics or full-length inserts can help with flat feet or excessive pronation. If you have continued pain during rest, shin feels hot and inflamed, the pain seem to be getting worse, I recommend seeking medical help.

Shin splints can be prevented and also taken care of once they occur and go away quickly, or they can also get worse. There are different levels of shin splints from very minor to very severe where the periosteum (the tissue covering the bone) actually is pulling off the bone and stress fractures can occur. Therefore, it is important to follow the steps to prevent and remedy the problem if you are experiencing any type of pain in the lower leg compartment. There can be other problems causing shin splits to continue, so seeking medical help at the appropriate time is important.