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The term shin splints refers to pain along the large bone on the front of your leg, called your shinbone or tibia. The pain results from an overload on the shinbone and the connective tissues that attach your muscles to the bone. People with shin splints often complain of mild swelling, soreness, or pain along the inner part of their lower leg or at their shin bone. If not treated, you may experience more time with the pain and less time without it.
Some of the most common causes for shin splints include:
Shin Splints are an especially painful condition, and if left untreated, will only grow worse with time. Typically, shin splints symptoms include a steady pain in the front of the leg below the knee, along the shinbone (the tibia). This pain is most severe during a workout and will seem to be made worse by continued exercise.
Because shin splints pain is rooted in the bones and muscle connectors along the front of the leg, rather than the muscle itself, recovery should be undertaken carefully.
Consult your doctor and be sure that you use the proper tools to aid in your rehabilitation. Trying to "work through" the pain could make your injury worse, to the point where you are unable to continue exercising.
While the most immediate relief comes from ceasing activity, rest, ice, compression, and elevation, everyday life must continue. So what can you do?
Lessen the Impact
Every time the heel of your foot hits the ground, a shock wave travels up through your body, all the way to your head. Healthy lower legs will absorb a lot of this shock. Making sure that your arches are properly supported and your shoes are providing maximum shock absorption will lessen the pain of existing shin splints and help to prevent future flair ups.
Arch supports in every day shoes can help cushion and disperse stress on your shinbones, providing immediate relief for existing shin splints and added support and padding that help to prevent them.
Your calves play a large role in the health of your shins. Any imbalance in strength often manifests itself in shin splints or a calf strain. By stretching your calves daily and increasing your calf flexibility, you can dramatically reduce your risk of muscle imbalance injury. By adding strength training to your flexibility exercises, you make progress towards completing the muscle balance.
Toe raises and leg presses are a good place to start, but a complete program that targets all four planes of ankle motion to work all of the supporting muscles is best.
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