Shin Splint
Any pain caused to the shin bone or tibia is called shin splint. In this condition, you will feel pain in the shin bone (front of your lower leg). You can experience pain in front of your shin between knee to ankle.
This condition affects people who often do vigorous physical activities. Also common in people who are playing sports like football, tennis, etc. Shin splint is a progressive stress disorder. The persistent hitting and stress on the muscles, joints, and bones of the leg impair the natural healing mechanism of the body.
Causes
- Continuous stress on the shin bone
- Excessive force on the muscles surrounding the shin bone
- Malalignment of ankle and foot
- Repeated injury to the shin bone
Risk factors
- Malalignment of foot and ankle like flat foot
- Muscle weakness of thigh or buttocks
- Less flexibility
- Wrong training technique
- Running on an uneven or hard surface
- Wrong and inappropriate footwear
- Sports with high impact movement
Symptoms
- Pain on the shin bone ( front part of the leg)
- Pain increases during physical activity or exercise
- Muscular pain
- Pain in the inner part of the leg
- Tenderness in the front and inner part of the leg
- Mild swelling in the lower leg
Diagnosis
- Physical examination by your doctor
- X-ray enables evaluation of
- An X-ray can be done to check any bone injury like fracture or stress fracture on the shin bone
Treatment
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- Requires reduced physical activities (for about 2 weeks). This will help recuperate within a few hours and in a few days with limited activity.
- Swimming and walking are some of the limited activities.
Your doctor will often suggest that you do the following:
- Elevate your leg
- Do ice fomentation to reduce pain and swelling
- Painkillers and anti-inflammatory medications help reduce inflammation
- Elastic bandages support the leg
- Before restarting your routine activities, consultation with the physician is a must. Warming up exercises prior to normal exercises ensures that the legs are warm and not sore.
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- Surgery
- Surgery for shin splints is suggested in cases where the patient suffers from severe pain over a long period of time. Such surgery is called fasciotomy. A small incision is made in the fascia tissue that surrounds the calf muscles. This procedure helps in pain relief.
How to avoid:
- Wear proper-fitting shoes
- Shock-absorbing insoles
- Do not exercise on the hard surface or uneven surfaces
- Gradually increase your exercise intensity
- Do proper warm-up before exercise or training
- Do stretching of leg muscles to increase the flexibility