Shin splits are a common complaint among runners and other athletes, causing pain during and after exercise. The symptoms often develop after an increase in demand, such as moving from treadmill to hill running, or increasing your distance. They can also follow more gradual changes, like the wearing out of running shoes.

Is It Just Shin Pain?

It might be reasonable to assume that the pain is just muscular. But shin splints are considered an early stage of stress fracture development. This explains why the texture of the tissue changes, lasting longer than you’d expect from just a tight muscle.

Some other conditions can be mistaken for shin splints. A true stress fracture causes pain in the same area, and may have the same history. However, pain will be more relentless on exertion. If you suspect you have a fracture, you should go to A&E. Trapped nerves can affect the same area, as can some tendinopathies. Your osteopath will take a detailed history and examine your leg to determine the most likely diagnosis.

Managing Shin Splints

The first line of management is to adapt the aggravating exercise. That might be as simple as reducing frequency or distance of running. Sometimes the trick is to address inadequate footwear; your osteopath can advise you on this so do bring your running shoes to your appointment. Excessive pronation (the sole of the foot turning out) puts extra demand on the area. If you tend to run on the insides of your shoes, they can wear down quicker and further exaggerate pronation. New shoes might be a start, and insoles to further limit pronation could be helpful too.

Cooling the area after exercise, using a cool compress for no more than 10-minutes at a time can also be important for recovery.

Osteopaths look beyond the symptomatic area to see what else might be playing a role. With shin splints, problems with ankle or hip mobility are the usual culprits. Dysfunction here can cause you to land heavier on that side, or need to use the muscles more to accommodate restriction. Treatment to release tension and improve joint function might be an important part of your treatment plan. It might be appropriate to examine and treat the joints of the foot and ankle, as well as the surrounding muscles. You can support the changes made in the treatment room by following your prescribed exercises at home between appointments.

Returning to Running

Ultimately, it’s likely that your management plan will involve reducing your runs, or completely stopping them for a short while. This gives the tissue time to recover; time which can be spent making the above-mentioned changes to reduce strains. Returning to exercise slowly enough to avoid re-overloading is therefore very important. Your osteopath can offer specific advice here, regarding how to reduce the exercise and when it’s appropriate to bring it back in. We can also suggest alternatives in the meantime: lower weightbearing activities like swimming can help your recovery while avoiding overstraining the area.

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