What Are Shin Splints?

 

Shin splints usually happen when your shinbone is stressed over and over again. Most of the time, shin splints happen after hard exercise, sports, or doing the same thing over and over again. If you do too much too soon, you could end up with shin splints.

If you do get shin splints, pay attention to what your body tells you and rest. If you try to push through the pain, you might hurt yourself more or take longer to get better.

You can avoid getting shin splints by training in different ways, running different routes, and buying good shoes.

Shin splints, also called medial tibial stress syndrome, are a common exercise-related problem that causes pain along the inside edge of the shinbone (tibia). Most of the time, shin splints are caused by overuse, which makes the tendons, muscles, and connective tissue swell up.

If you've walked, run, playing sports, or even danced for any length of time, it's likely that you've had shin splints at least once. Shin splints are treated more than 3 million times a year in the U.S.1 because they are one of the most common injuries for runners and walkers.

But if you're new to exercise or have never had this kind of pain before, you might be wondering if you have shin splints or something else. Read on to learn what causes shin splints, how to tell if you have them, how to treat them, and how to avoid them.

How do shin splints make you feel?

When you have shin splints, you may feel pain on both sides of the shin bone. This pain may be sharp and spread out. Or, your shin splints may make you feel tired and achy. Most of the time, the pain starts or gets worse when you walk, run, or do other weight-bearing activities. And it usually hurts to touch the area. 

You may also notice that your pain gets worse when you work out but gets better when you rest. Because of this, you may need to stop doing your sport or at least do less of it until your body has time to heal. If you don't feel any pain, you can slowly start exercising again after two to four weeks. 

But be ready to be out longer than expected. Some health experts say that shin splints can take three to six months to fully heal, so be patient with your body and pay attention to how much pain you are in. 

Why do people get Shin Splints?

One of the most common things that can cause shin splints is a sudden change in how active you are or how you work out. The pain comes from making your workouts harder, doing them more often, or doing them for longer. Runners and military trainees are especially likely to have this problem.

Studies were done by the military show that between 4% and 10% of new recruits get shin splints during the first 8–12 weeks of basic training. Shin splints are also common in ballet dancers, and up to 20% of running injuries are caused by them. 

You can also get shin splints if your shoes are worn out, if you have flat feet, or if you wear shoes with a weak arch. Having bad form when you exercise or tight hip flexors can also cause shin splints if these problems are not fixed. 

Shin splints can happen even when you work out on hard or uneven surfaces. Many runners run the same route every day. If your route has a sloped road or rough terrain, you could get shin splints from doing the same thing over and over again. Shin pain can also be caused by sports that start and stop a lot. 

How do you know if you have shin splints?

When you go to a doctor about your shin pain, they will probably ask you a number of questions, such as when it hurts, how bad it hurts, and if anything makes it feel better. They will also look at your lower leg and watch you walk or even run.

They will sometimes also order more tests to rule out another problem. For example, tendonitis can sometimes cause pain in the lower leg, and an MRI can be used to find out what's wrong. X-rays or bone imaging tests are used to make sure that you don't have a stress fracture that is causing your pain. 

Chronic exertional compartment syndrome is another condition that can cause pain similar to shin splits. Even though it doesn't happen very often, this condition happens when you exercise and build up a lot of pressure in your muscles. The pain usually goes away when you stop what you're doing. If your doctor thinks you might have this condition, he or she will likely order a test to measure the pressure in your leg compartments before and after you exercise. 

Are stress fractures caused by shin splints?

When you have shin splints, you might get a tibial stress fracture if you keep training hard or even do more training. Still, some doctors think that stress fractures in the tibia can also happen when there is a lot of new bone growth (called "bone remodeling"), which makes the bone weak and porous for a short time.