What are the symptoms of shin splints

What Are Shin Splints?

Do your shins throb and ache after your daily run or just sprinting to catch the bus?

Table of Contents Show

What Are Shin Splints?
How Are They Treated?
4 Signs Your Shin Splints Have Healed
Home remedies
What are 4 causes of shin splints?
How do you test for shin splints?
How do you heal shin splints?
What are 3 causes of shin splints?

It could be shin splints. You might hear a doctor call it medial tibial stress syndrome. The cause is stress on your shinbone and the connective tissues that attach muscles to your bones. They get inflamed and painful.

This common problem can result from:

Flat feet -- when the impact of a step makes your foot's arch collapse (your doctor will call this overpronation)
Shoes that don’t fit well or provide good support
Working out without warmup or cooldown stretches
Weak ankles, hips, or core muscles

If you’re active, you could get them if you make sudden changes like more intense, more frequent, or longer workouts.

How Are They Treated?

They often heal on their own. If you see a doctor, expect to get a thorough physical exam. They may want to watch you run to look for problems. They might also take X-rays or bone scans to look for fractures.

Rest your body. It needs time to heal.
Ice your shin to ease pain and swelling. Do it for 20-30 minutes every 3 to 4 hours for 2 to 3 days, or until the pain is gone.
Use insoles or orthotics for your shoes. Shoe inserts -- which can be custom-made or bought off the shelf -- may help if your arches collapse or flatten when you stand up.
Take anti-inflammatory painkillers, if you need them. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen, will help with pain and swelling. These drugs can have side effects, though, like a greater chance of bleeding and ulcers. Use them as directed on the label, unless your doctor says otherwise.

4 Signs Your Shin Splints Have Healed

You’ll know they’re fully healed when:

Your injured leg is as flexible as your other leg.
Your injured leg feels as strong as your other leg.
You can push hard on spots that used to be painful.
You can jog, sprint, and jump without pain.

There's no way to say exactly when your shin splints will go away. It depends on what caused them. People also heal at different rates; 3 to 6 months isn’t unusual.

The most important thing is that you don’t rush back into your sport. If you start to work out before your shin heals, you may hurt yourself permanently.

Take up a new no-impact activity that won't aggravate your shin splints while they heal. If you’re a runner, try swimming or an aggressive interval bike program.

If your shin splints don’t get better, or if they come back, your doctor may suggest you see a physical therapist. They can treat issues in your legs or the way you move that could cause the problem. A therapist can also help ease the pain and guide your return to sport.

They’ll also make sure you don’t have a stress fracture -- tiny cracks in your tibia.

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What are shin splints?

The term “shin splints” describes pain felt along the front of your lower leg, at the shin bone. This pain concentrates in the lower leg between the knee and ankle. Your doctor may refer to the condition as medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS).

Shin splints frequently affect people who engage in moderate to heavy physical activity. You may be more likely to develop shin splints if you participate in strenuous physical activities or stop-start sports such as tennis, racquetball, soccer, or basketball.

Sometimes the pain of shin splints can be so intense that you must stop the activity.

Shin splints is a cumulative stress disorder. Repeated pounding and stress on the bones, muscles, and joints of the lower legs prevents your body from being able to naturally repair and restore itself.

The pain associated with shin splints results from excessive amounts of force on the shin bone and the tissues attaching the shin bone to the muscles surrounding it.

The excessive force causes the muscles to swell and increases the pressure against the bone, leading to pain and inflammation.

Shin splints can also result from stress reactions to bone fractures. The constant pounding can cause minute cracks in the bones of the leg. The body can repair the cracks if given time to rest.

However, if the body doesn’t get time to rest, the tiny cracks can result in a complete fracture or a stress fracture.

Various activities and physical attributes can put you at risk of getting shin splints. Risk factors include:

an anatomical abnormality (such as flat foot syndrome)
muscle weakness in the thighs or buttocks
lack of flexibility
improper training techniques
running downhill
running on a slanted surface or uneven terrain
running on hard surfaces like concrete
using inappropriate or worn-out shoes for running or working out
participating in sports that have fast stops and starts (like soccer or downhill skiing)

Shin splints are also more likely to occur when your leg muscles and tendons are tired. Women, people with flat feet or rigid arches, athletes, military recruits, and dancers all have an increased likelihood of developing shin splints.

People with shin splints will experience some of the following symptoms:

a dull ache in the front part of the lower leg
pain that develops during exercise
pain on either side of the shin bone
muscle pain
pain along the inner part of the lower leg
tenderness or soreness along the inner part of the lower leg
swelling in the lower leg (usually mild, if present)
numbness and weakness in the feet

See your doctor if your shin splints don’t respond to common treatment methods or if you’re experiencing any of the following symptoms:

severe pain in your shin after a fall or accident
a shin that feels hot
a shin that’s visibly swollen
pain in your shins even when you’re resting

Your doctor will usually be able to diagnose shin splints during a physical exam. They’ll ask you about the types of physical activities you participate in and how often you pursue them.

Doctors may prescribe diagnostic tests such as imaging scans and X-rays if they suspect that you might be suffering from bone fractures or a condition other than shin splints.

Home remedies

Shin splints normally require that you take a break from certain physical activities and give your legs time to rest. The discomfort will usually resolve completely in a few hours or at most in a few days with rest and limited activity.

The suggested amount of downtime is typically about two weeks. During this time, you can engage in sports or activities that are less likely to cause additional harm to your legs. These activities include swimming or walking.

Your doctor will often suggest that you do the following:

Keep your legs elevated.
Use ice packs to reduce swelling. Shop for cold compresses.
Take an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory, such as ibuprofen (Advil) or naproxen sodium (Aleve). Shop for ibuprofen and naproxen sodium.
Wear elastic compression bandages. Shop for elastic compression bandages.
Use a foam roller to massage your shins. Shop for foam rollers.

Check with your doctor before restarting any activities. Warming up before exercising is also a good way to make sure your legs aren’t sore.

Surgery

Surgery is rarely used to treat shin splints. However, if your shin splints are causing severe pain and symptoms last for more than several months, your doctor may recommend surgery.

This surgery is known as a fasciotomy. In this procedure, your doctor will make small cuts in the fascia tissue surrounding your calf muscles. This can potentially relieve some of the pain caused by shin splints.

Steps you can take to avoid getting shin splints include:

wearing shoes that fit well and offer good support
using shock-absorbing insoles, which you can find online at Amazon
avoiding exercising on hard or slanted surfaces or uneven terrain
increasing exercise intensity gradually
warming up before exercising
making sure to stretch properly
engaging in strength training, specifically toe exercises that build calf muscles
not attempting to exercise through the pain

Any intensive exercise program requires strengthening of all surrounding muscle groups. Workouts should be varied to avoid overuse and trauma to any particular muscle group.

You should refrain from any intense exercise program if severe muscle pain or other physical symptoms develop.

What are 4 causes of shin splints?

Causes.

Running, especially on hills. If you are a new runner, you are at greater risk for shin splints..

Increasing your days of training..

Increasing the intensity of training, or going a longer distance..

Doing exercise that has frequent stops and starts, such as dancing, basketball, or military training..

How do you test for shin splints?

Shin splints are usually diagnosed based on your medical history and a physical exam. In some cases, an X-ray or other imaging studies can help identify other possible causes for your pain, such as a stress fracture.

How do you heal shin splints?

How Are They Treated?.

Rest your body. It needs time to heal..

Ice your shin to ease pain and swelling. Do it for 20-30 minutes every 3 to 4 hours for 2 to 3 days, or until the pain is gone..

Use insoles or orthotics for your shoes. ... .

Take anti-inflammatory painkillers, if you need them..

What are 3 causes of shin splints?

What causes shin splints? Shin splints most often happen after hard exercise, sports, or repetitive activity. This repetitive action can lead to inflammation of the muscles, tendons, and thin layer of tissue covering the shin bones, causing pain.