Shin Splint Treatment
Shin Splints Treatment
- Wearing a medical-grade shin splint compression sleeve
- Rest
- Ice
- Elevation
- Reducing time spent exercising while your shin splints heal
PLEASE NOTE: While some or all of these options may be effective in temporarily easing the pain of plantar fasciitis, they can also be difficult, costly, uncomfortable, and even dangerous!
Shin Splints Symptoms
- Sharp pain in the front of the lower leg, either on the inside edge of the tibia (in most cases), or in the muscles below the knee.
- Pain often appears as soon as exercise begins, then fades off during training. The leg pain may reappear later in the workout and immediately after.
- A mild shin splint will annoy you during a run. A serious shin splint will stop you in your tracks. The pain can often be intense and running through the pain never helps.
Shin Splints Causes and Risk Factors
- Incorrect running form
- Improper or worn out footwear
- Inadequate stretching of calves, quads, and hamstrings
- Ramping up intensity, distance, or duration of a run too soon
- Over Pronation (turning the foot too far inward when striding) causes imbalanced pressure on the inside of the tibia, where most shin splints occur
- Running on uneven surfaces for long durations
Explaining Shin Splints
What are Shin Splints?
The blanket term “shin splints” can refer to one of three distinct conditions. In 90% of sufferers, shin splints involve pain or tenderness on the inside of the shin bone (tibia). The shin pain occurs during and after exercise, and especially while running. While many running-related injuries can be traced back to non-running causes or conditions, shin splints cannot. So, shin splints treatment will have everything to do with the runner’s form, footwear, and conditioning.
The pain is caused by excessive force placed on the shin bone and surrounding tissue. While this type of shin splint is rarely dangerous, it can shut down an exercise program and cause a great deal of pain.
The other 10% of shin splints sufferers have pain in the front of the shin below the knee where the muscles seem to tense and hurt during exercise. This is also referred to as shin splints, and is actually called exertional compartment syndrome (ECS).
The third cause of lower leg pain is much more serious: a tibial stress fracture. If the following shin splints treatment recommendations do not relieve your pain, then you should see a doctor immediately to determine if your tibia is fractured. Likewise, if you experience shin pain that does not respond to standard shin splints treatment, then notify your doctor.