Shin Splints
Shin splints, otherwise known as Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome, is common in sports such as running and football as well as dancers or army recruits. This condition causes pain at the front of one or sometimes both shins. People often describe the pain like their shin is being ripped off. The pain tends to get worse with exercise and will often improve a lot with rest. The area of pain along the shin may be tender to touch with some mild swelling inn some cases. The severity of the pain will often gradually increase the worse the condition gets. Often this issue will arise after starting a new exercise or after an increase in the intensity of a particular exercise This issue can be very frustrating due to the inability to carry on with the desired sport or activity that keeps making this issue worse. The good news however, Chiropractors tend to get very good results with resolving this condition. So let’s start with what causes it.
As you can see in this photo, the pain with shin splints is often at the front of the shin or occasionally can be at the back.
What Causes Shin Splints?
Shin splints are caused by an increase in stress to the outside of the bone where the tendons (from muscles) attach to the shin bone (tibia). This causes a tearing of the outer layer of the bone where the tendon attaches to it which leads to inflammation and thus pain. It’s this tearing of the outer layer of the bone that makes this type of pain feel so intense and like the shin is being ripped off. But what causes this increase stress to occur in the first place?
The pain often occurs and worsens with exercise due to the increase in tension within the muscles of the leg as you use them. This happens naturally of course, however the injury is caused when the baseline tension in the muscle is already very high and close to threshold for causing injury. If the muscles of the lower leg are already very tight, then using the muscle will just push it over the threshold and progressively increasing the tension on the tendon where it attaches to the bone. Therefore, to fix the problem, the tension needs to reduce in the muscle to reduce the pressure from the tendon. So how do we reduce the muscle tension? Is it as simple as just stretching the muscle? Not usually and here’s why…
Muscles will not get tight on their own. The muscles are a slave to the nervous system and then structure that surrounds it. Therefore to reduce the tension of a muscle with lasting results, the cause of the tension must be identified and addressed. With shin splints, the major muscles involved and in the legs and thus the lower back, pelvis, knee and ankles are often the primary culprits. If any of the areas aren’t functioning properly, the muscles in the legs can tighten as a compensation. This is where a Chiropractor can massively help.
How Can A Chiropractor Help With Shin Splints?
Chiropractors are highly trained to assess and correct dysfunctions in the mechanics of the spine as well as the hips, knees and ankles. Specific adjustment can be applied to restore the alignment and motion these joints and thus restoring the function. Once the function is restored, the tension of the muscles can reduce, allowing you to continue the activities you love.
See what people have said about their success with Dr Hulme who have had similar problems.