Shin Splints
Shin splints also known as ‘Medial tibial stress syndrome’ is a common condition which affects athletes, runners, tennis players etc. It can present as pain along the inner edge or front of the shin bone and can be a dull ache that intensifies during and after exercise.
Causes include:
Poor core strength, inflexibility, muscular imbalance leading to biomechanical irregularities and also commonly in runners an abrupt change in training regime e.g. increasing mileage and speed too quickly.
Treatment and management:
Short-term
- Reduce stress activity like running on hard surfaces and introduce cross training with low impact exercise like cycling or swimming to keep fitness levels up while letting the damaged tissues heal.
- Using ice or anti-inflammatory to reduce inflammation.
- Use Taping or arch support to help support the strain of affected tissues.
Long-term
- Improve mechanics by including core and hip training to your workout.
- Warm up, stretch and cool down correctly before and after exercise.
- Gradually increasing your workload , no more than 10% increase per week is recommended.
Why see a therapist?
Pain in the shin does not always indicate shin splints and can be caused by other more serious conditions like, stress fractures and compartment syndrome. So it is best to see a qualified therapist to examine you and determine what the cause of your pain is and devise a personalised management plan to resolve it.
To read more about shin splints visit:
- http://www.runnersworld.com/tag/shin-splints
- https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/patientinstructions/000654.htm
- http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/242169.php?page=2&trendmd-shared=1
