Dr. Lee Miller Injury Prevention & Treatment Information for Runners

1. What is it?

Shin splints are overuse injuries that occur in the lower leg. They may be due to a tearing of the muscle where it attaches to a tendon, or it may be caused be an inflammation of the tissue that surrounds the lower leg bones, a condition called periositis.

Shin splints can be classified into 3 types based on the area of the chin that they occur.

i) anterior compartment: are in the front of the shin and involve the tibialis anterior muscle

ii) lateral compartment: are on the outside of the shin and involve peroneal muscle group

iii) medial compartment: are in the inner aspect of the shin, 1-3 cm above the ankle, and involves the tibialis posterior muscle

2. What are the causes/predisposing factors of injury?

Any type of abnormal pronation, be it overpronation or underpronation can lead to shin splints. Other factors include: biomechanical misalignment, running on hard surfaces, and too quick of an increase in either mileage or intensity of training.

3. What are the symptoms?

A dull ache in the shin that increases in intensity as you work out and subsides later is the general symptom. The shin may be exquisitely tender to the touch, and can be mildly swollen and bumpy feeling.

4. What can be done to prevent or treat this condition?

Correction of biomechanical problems such as overpronation with proper shoes or orthotics. Strengthening and increasing the flexibility of the shin muscles is important in reducing the chances of injury. Also, try to avoid running on hard surfaces every day.

Treatment is geared towards reducing the inflammation in the area. Ice the area of complaint for 15 minutes after the workout, and continue to ice in the evening for 15 minutes each hour for 3-4 hours. You can also take aspirin to reduce the pain and swelling. It is also prudent to decrease mileage when you have shin splints.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 1st, 2004 at 7:06 am and is filed under running injuries prevention and treatment(t) , running(t) . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.