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Shin Splints
Shin splints is a common injury amongst runners and refers to pain on the inside of the tibia or shin bone. Shin splints can be a generic term for pains and injuries around the shin bone including anterior shin splints, medial tibial stress syndrome and compartment syndrome. All of these conditions are different but all affect the same area and are caused by similiar reasons.
Causes:
- Hard Surfaces - running on hard surfaces like concrete can cause excess stress on the tibia and surrounding area.
- Old Shoes - running in old shoes means that the cushioning has gone, increasing the amount of impact your legs have to deal with.
- Over Pronation - over pronation causes the foot to collapse inwards meaning that the leg is pulled out of allignment and reducing the efficiency of which impact is absorbed. This causes excess stress on the legs all the way upto the hips and lower back.
- Overuse - increasing the training too much and not giving yourself enough time to recover can cause inflammation around the shin bone.
Remedies:
- RICE - Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. It's important to let the injury heal and for the inflammation to go before resuming any impact activities like running.
- Get your gait checked and buy shoes accordingly. This will help with any over pronation that might be occuring and causing the problem.
- Stay off concrete, run on softer terrain like grass, dirt tracks, beaches, in the woods or on a treadmill
- Strengthening and stretching muscles around the tibia will help to deal with the stress on the tibia
- Keep up your general fitness through other non impact activities like swimming and cycling.
- Sports massage - a deep massage around the tibia can help to loosen and relax the muscles that may have become inflamed from irritation.
If you can't resolve or reduce the pains from the above remedies then we always advise to seek professional, medical advice from a physiotherapist or related specialist.
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