Shin Splints Treatment Canberra
If you suffer from an ache along the inside of your shin when you run or walk, particularly one that eases up when you stop, there’s a good chance you’re dealing with shin splints. The medical term is medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS).
At Capital Podiatry in Tuggeranong, Canberra, we look at what is putting too much load through the shin in the first place. Simply treating the pain often misses what is causing it. Here, we explain how we assess and treat shin splints, along with the symptoms that may suggest something else is going on.
What Shin Splints Actually Are
The tibia is the larger of the two bones in the lower leg. Several of the lower leg muscles, including the deep calf muscles, attach along its inside border. When those muscles pull on the bone more often or more forcefully than it can adapt to, the lining of the bone becomes irritated, and the shin starts to ache. That is medial tibial stress syndrome, the form of shin splints we see most.
Front or lateral pain in the shin is less common and is typically caused by the muscles that lift the foot. Regardless of the problem, the treatment process is more or less the same. What is done first is to reduce the amount of load on the painful area. From there, it is just a matter of slowly increasing what the lower leg can comfortably handle again.
Shin splints can vary from mild irritation to a more severe injury. In the beginning stages, the bone might just be responding to pressure and force that it is not used to. Continuing to train on the bone will only worsen the problem and cause a tibial stress fracture, and that takes considerably longer to recover from.
Common Causes of Shin Splints
Shin splints are an overuse injury caused by placing too much strain on a part of your body that has not been accustomed to that amount of exertion. For active people, a sudden increase in training or a change in exercise routines is often what causes this problem. This could include someone who starts running five days a week when they haven’t run at all before, or someone suddenly pushing up their distance and intensity before a fun run.
The place where you train is also an important factor. Running on hard surfaces increases force on your tibia with each stride. Improper footwear can also add to the issue, especially when the shoes no longer absorb impact as well as they did when they were new.
The way you walk can contribute to the problem, too. Flat feet or a tendency for the foot to roll excessively places additional pressure on the muscles in the shin every time a step is taken. An abnormal gait can also alter the path in which the force passes through the foot and lower leg, sometimes affecting the knee and hip as well.
Weak calf muscles could also be an underlying cause, or the issue could lie higher up at the hip joint. A biomechanical assessment will help us determine what is really contributing to your shin pain. Often, there can be more than one factor that plays a role.
Symptoms of Shin Splints and When It Might Be Something Else
Typical shin splints create a dull ache along the inside of the shin over a stretch of several centimetres. It is tender to press. The ache is usually worse at the start of a run and comes back again after you stop. Mild swelling along the bone is common.
There are some symptoms that are worth having examined rather than treating them at home. One example would be sharp pain that is localised to one particular point on the shin bone. If it also hurts to hop around on the leg that hurts, then a stress fracture might be the issue.
If your pain increases as you continue to exercise and finally forces you to stop, this is an indication of another matter entirely. When the pain recurs after several minutes, and there is numbness or a sensation of tightness or a feeling of fullness in the calf, there may be pressure building within the muscle compartment.
Any pain that is lower down, located at the back of the ankle, may actually be originating from the Achilles tendon. Any pain in the shins that has been persistent for more than two weeks despite periods of rest should be checked. The same applies if it has started bothering you while walking or waking you at night.
How We Diagnose and Treat Shin Splints
We start by looking at your training history. Often, that gives us the first clue. We want to know what changed in the weeks before the pain appeared, the surfaces you usually run on, your footwear, and how much of the working day you spend on your feet.
From there, we examine the shin and press along the tibia to find exactly where it is tender. We also check the strength and flexibility of your calf muscles, along with the muscles that control how the foot moves.
Where the shin is being overloaded by the way you move, a gait and biomechanical assessment shows us what happens through the foot, ankle, knee and hip when you walk and run with your full body weight. If we suspect a stress fracture, we will refer you for imaging before doing anything else.
Treatment starts with load management. Complete rest rarely fixes shin splints on its own, and it costs you fitness. We would rather cut the load that hurts, usually running volume and intensity, and keep you active on a bike or in the pool. From there, we rebuild running with a gradual return that the shin can tolerate. Ice and compression can help with pain relief in the first week or two. They do not fix the cause.
Alongside that, depending on what the assessment finds, treatment may involve strengthening work for the calf and the hip, stretching exercises where the calf is tight, dry needling or mobilisation for tight lower leg muscles, strapping, shockwave therapy for shin pain that has been present for months, footwear changes, or orthotics where foot posture is driving the load into the shin. Our sports podiatry team will talk you through why each option is being suggested and what to expect from it.
Who to See for Shin Splints and What It Costs
For shin pain that started with training, a podiatrist is the right first call. We diagnose and treat the lower leg directly, and you do not need a referral to book. A GP or sports doctor is the better starting point if the pain came on after a fall or a direct blow, or if you have symptoms elsewhere in the body. We refer you on for imaging when a stress fracture is likely.
An initial consult covering the foot and leg is $250 with a podiatrist and $270 with our principal podiatrist. It includes an orthotics assessment if you need one.
Book an Appointment or Visit Our Clinic
Our clinic is at Shop 9 Homeworld, corner of Anketell Street and Reed Street North, Greenway, in the Tuggeranong town centre. There are two hours of free parking in the Homeworld carpark. We are open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm.
Book online to see available times, or call us on (02) 6293 3300 if the appointment you need is not listed on the booking form.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Long Do Shin Splints Take to Heal?
Mild shin splints caught early often settle within a few weeks once the load is reduced. Cases that have been pushed through for months take longer, because the bone needs time to recover and the leg needs to be rebuilt before it can handle full training again. The biggest factor in how long it takes is how soon the training load is adjusted.
Can I Keep Running With Shin Splints?
Usually not at your current volume. Running through shin pain is how a mild irritation becomes a stress fracture. Cut the volume and intensity to a level that does not provoke pain during or after the run, and swap some sessions for cycling or swimming. Build back gradually as the shin settles.
Do I Need Orthotics for Shin Splints?
Only if foot posture is part of the cause. Where flat feet or heavy rolling in are loading the inside of the shin, orthotics can reduce that load. If your assessment shows the problem is a training spike in a foot that functions well, orthotics will not help and we will say so.
What Is the Difference Between Shin Splints and a Stress Fracture?
Shin splints cause tenderness spread along several centimetres of the inside shin. A stress fracture causes pain at one small point on the bone, often with pain at night or at rest. Imaging is needed to confirm a stress fracture, and recovery is longer, so we refer for it when the signs are there.
Does Dry Needling Help Shin Splints?
It can help where tight calf and lower leg muscles are contributing to the pull on the shin bone. It does not change the training load or the way you move, so we use it alongside strengthening and load management rather than on its own.
TAKE THE FIRST STEP
Every journey starts with a single step, there’s no need to suffer any longer.
Make an appointment with our experienced podiatrists today.
Get in touch to book an initial Consult for Foot, Leg & Orthotics