Anyone who has taken up
running as a sport, a hobby or has been dragged into running a 5K has
undoubtedly experienced some kinds of shin pain and been diagnosed (through
self or medical professional) with "shin splints" but rarely are
given a full explanation as to what it is and why it hurts. Shin pain is
generally experienced in one of two locations (sometimes both). Typically
seen in shorter distance runners the pain with be right on the front (anterior) part of their
shins and are often times extremely tender to the touch. The other common location of "shin
splint" pain is along the inside (medial) border of the shin. This is often seen in long-distance runners, anyone who has greatly increased activity, or people who are
new to the sport and may have gotten a little over ambitious.
What is a
shin splint?
What makes this injury
difficult is the multiple issues that could be causing the problem. The
most extreme issues that may be causing you shin pain is an actual stress
fracture or other stress injury to the bone. This is another hard diagnosis as many of them do not show up
on x-ray until they actually begin healing, which typically occurs and shows in 2-4 weeks if at all. If you have the means, often
times a MRI or Bone Scan is useful for diagnosing this injury. Other causes
include but are not limited to periositis (bone pain), medial flexor
tendonitis, fallen arches, or calf tightness (especially the lateral gastroc).
What can
I do to help?
If this has become a chronic pain and their is extreme pain to the touch or at rest at one
specific location along the bone see a physician for further examination. Many
times for runners a simple fix is purchasing a new pair of shoes that are
designed with more arch support. An alternative to this is purchasing a
neutral shoe and adding an insert that will increase arch support. Common
sense would think that adding both would be an even better solution but often
this leads to over correction of the issue and causes further and unnecessary problems.
Receiving more arch support allows the muscles that run on the inside of your
shin (tibia) to go back to their natural position and not be put on excessive
stretch as they were without the support. This is a quick fix to a much larger problem and one that I wouldn't recommend solely relying on but utilizing if it helps keep you going in the short term.
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