| The term shin splints is a common misnomer in | | | | knee. A stress fracture is likely to occur 2 or 3 |
| sports medicine. It does not imply a specific | | | | weeks into a new training program or after |
| diagnosis, rather it is the symptom of pain over | | | | beginning a harder training program. |
| the front of the tibia bone. The pain from shin | | | | Symptoms of Shin Splints |
| splints can be due to either problems of the | | | | You have pain over the front part of your lower |
| muscles, the bone, or the attachment of the | | | | leg. You may have pain during exercise, at rest, |
| muscle to the bone. Therefore, 'shin splints' is | | | | or both. Stress fractures of the tibia will give you |
| simply the name given to pain over the front of | | | | pain directly over your shinbone. It will hurt to |
| the lower leg. | | | | touch the part of the bone that is fractured. |
| Shin splints is a common term used for a half a | | | | Stress fractures of the fibula will cause pain on |
| dozen lower leg problems ranging from nerve | | | | the outer side of your lower leg. With medial tibial |
| irritations to tendonitis to stress fractures. The | | | | stress syndrome, you will have pain and |
| most common type that is experienced involves | | | | tenderness along the edge of the shinbone, |
| the tearing away of the muscle tissue that | | | | especially along the muscles. With compartment |
| attaches to the front of the lower leg. | | | | syndrome the muscles in that area will be painful. |
| Risk Factors of Shin Splints | | | | Shin splints are a common, often seasonal injury |
| The first risk factor is overtraining. Evaluate your | | | | that usually occurs when you start to run after a |
| schedule to determine what training errors you | | | | long layoff. They can also result from playing a |
| may have made. Mechanically, pronation is most | | | | sport (such as tennis) on a hard surface, changing |
| likely to be the culprit. When the foot pronates | | | | your style of workout shoes, dramatically |
| the medial structures of the leg are stretched and | | | | increasing workouts, or gaining a substantial |
| put under stress, this increases the likelihood that | | | | amount of weight and then exercising. |
| they will become injured. | | | | Anterior shin splint is due to a muscle or tendon |
| Muscle trauma (exertional compartment | | | | injury (that help to lift the front of the foot) and |
| syndrome) is often related to overtraining or | | | | results in pain and tenderness on the front outside |
| excessive running on hard surfaces. Repeated use | | | | of the leg. Posterior pain (a soreness that radiates |
| makes the muscles swell and puts pressure on | | | | along the back and inner side of the lower leg or |
| the fascia that covers the muscles in the lower | | | | ankle) is typically caused by stressed muscles that |
| leg leading to pressure and pain. | | | | help support and stabilize the arch of the foot. |
| A primary culprit causing shin splints is a sudden | | | | Stress fractures should be taken seriously, so if |
| increase in distance or intensity of a workout | | | | you suspect you have one, you should consult a |
| schedule. This increase in muscle work can be | | | | physician before continuing to engage in any |
| associated with inflammation of the lower leg | | | | exercise or activity. |
| muscles, those muscles used in lifting the foot | | | | Treatment of Shin Splints |
| (the motion during which the foot pivots toward | | | | If pain is severe or you suspect a stress fracture, |
| the tibia). | | | | contact your physician for an examination. After a |
| Anterior compartment syndrome affects the | | | | medical history and examination, he or she may |
| outer side of the front of the leg. | | | | suggest x-rays to detect any minute cracks in |
| Stress fractures usually produce localized, sharp | | | | the shin - the sign of a stress fracture. |
| pain with tenderness 1 or 2 inches below the | | | | |