Foot Pain Centres
of Leeds

Telephone: 0113 418 0282   

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Shin Pain

Often referred to as Shin splints the medical term being Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome (MTSS) which describes a stress reaction in the lower leg, the source of pain maybe associated with bone, muscle, tendon or insertion.

Our Podiatry team will need to identify which anatomical structure is involved and if your symptoms are sports – related to watch you in action and perform a Gait analysis.

Pain in the shin is categorised according to which compartment of the lower limb your pain is arising from:

Anterior compartment

Pain is normally felt along the inner lower two-thirds of the shin or tibia, causing inflammation and stiffness. It involves the anterior muscles at the front of the leg which are responsible for decelerating the foot at heel strike and can be overused when running downhill, on hard surfaces or over-striding. These muscles also reduce pronation within the foot.

Symptoms occur as these muscles become over worked or fatigued especially with those foot types that cause an over strike on the outside of the foot or if the shin has an increased bowing lessening the amount of shock absorption available when you strike the ground.

If left untreated it can result in potential stress fractures.

Treatment

  • Stop all activities that aggravate the condition
  • Ice massage and stretching
  • If you wish to keep running alter the terrain type
  • Check running shoes are correct for your foot type
  • Orthotics to realign foot structures

    Information request

    bone-cross-section

    fracture

    X-ray showing fracture of the tibia following repetitive shin splints