Do you get a burning or aching sensation at the front of your shin when you walk, run, or participate in your favourite sport? You very well may have shin splints.
Many people assume that the symptoms will go away on their own with time. And while that may be true in some cases, if you don’t address the underlying issue causing your shin splints you could have a serious injury on your hands.
Let’s dive in to understand what shin splints are and what causes them, so you can make sure to get rid of your shin splints for good.
What are shin splints?
Shin splints are any type of pain that occur along the front of your shin bone and is often called medial tibial stress syndrome.
Shin splints could be secondary to tendinitis in the muscle at the front of your shin called the tibialis anterior. But shin splints could also indicate a bone stress injury, which is more serious that a tendinitis.
What are the symptoms of shin splints?
The symptoms are generally described as an aching or burning sensation that comes on with activity.
You may have some nagging symptoms in your shin for a period of time after participating in physical activity as well depending on how irritated the tissue is.
Depending on what structure is causing the pain, the pain can occur with weight bearing alone, especially if the source of the pain is the bone.
What causes shin splints?
Shin splints are often caused by increasing your activity levels too much at once resulting in an overuse injury to either the muscle or bone of your shin.
Often athletes who abruptly change their training plan volume will report developing shin splints.
Potential Diagnoses
Shin splints can be a diagnosis given in isolation, but the underlying root cause of the shin splints is usually one of the following conditions:
- Tibialis anterior tendinitis
- Tibial bone stress injury or stress fracture
- Extensor hallucis tendinitis (toe extensor tendinitis)
Did you know?
Did you know that if you have worn out footwear or shoes that don’t fit properly this could cause shin splints?
Footwear that is either worn out or doesn’t fit you well will result in a change in the mechanics at your feet. And when these mechanics change, your muscles and bones will be stressed in a less than ideal manner resulting in pain and dysfunction.
This is why it’s critical to assure you have footwear that fits well and obtain new tennis shoes about every 6 months if you are physically active.
