Shin Splints

Shin splints is the common name for an aching pain along the inner edge of your shinbone that comes on with sport. The medical name is medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS). Small, unrepaired areas of damage in the bone seem to play a role when your training load rises faster than your bone can recover.

You feel the pain along a strip of five centimetres or more on the lower half of your shin. It tends to be worst at the start of a session and eases after 10 to 15 minutes.

Shin splints are common in runners who add distance fast, in new runners and in jumping sports. A stress fracture can look similar, and it is the first thing we check for when we examine you.

Your physiotherapist makes the diagnosis from a conversation about your training and an examination of your lower leg. Tenderness along a strip of five centimetres or more on the inner edge of your shinbone fits shin splints.

Pain in one small spot, pain at rest, or a red, warm or swollen spot point more towards a stress fracture. Then we refer you to your GP for an X-ray or scan.

First you lower your load for a while so your bone can recover: shorter, easier runs, no jumping or sprinting. Cycling and swimming are fine as long as they are pain-free, and you build strength in your calf, ankle and foot.

After that you rebuild your running, with attention to your technique. If the pain along your shin lasts longer than three months despite exercise, your physiotherapist can add shockwave to your build-up, within your regular session and with no surcharge.

With adjusted training, symptoms usually ease within a few weeks.

You build up in small steps: first pain-free walking and short running intervals, then more distance, and later pace. If your shin hurts more the day after a session, you take a step back.