shin splints

Written by Chris Teh

Shin splints can be an annoying condition to have, especially if you are an active individual who participates in recreational activity/sport. The medical name for shin splits is “Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome” which is a fancy way of describing the location of the shin pain.

 Shin splints normally represents itself as activity-induced pain along the length of the shin bone and is usually aggravated by repetitive loading activities such as running, jumping or hopping.

 Although shin splints can occur in all age groups, it tends to be more prevalent in children and adolescents.

Unfortunately there is no known single cause for the development of shin splints. Medical literature suggests that biomechanical differences of the foot/ankle, poor footwear, activity on hard surfaces and training errors are likely to be contributing factors to developing shin splints.

 Furthermore, other factors that have been suggested include weak muscles of the calf/shin and globally around the lower limb.

Anatomically it is also unclear as to what is happening locally at the shin. However, it is suspected that there is a degree of inflammation of the connective tissue that surrounds the shin bone. This inflammation tends to be triggered as a stress reaction to load (i.e. running/jumping etc.).