Shin splints are a common overuse injury in active teenagers, runners, and military personnel. It is characterized by diffuse pain along the inner part of the lower leg. Recovery from shin splints can take many months or even years. Many runners are plagued by recurrent pain as they attempt to increase their training. Thankfully, there are exercises you can do to treat and prevent shin splints.
Shin splints, also known as medial tibial stress syndrome, develop when the muscle and bones in the leg become overworked by repetitive activity. It is essentially, inflammation of the muscles, tendons, and bone around your tibia. If symptoms are ignored, the injury can progress to something more serious like a stress fracture.
Common Treatments for Shin Splints
Treatment for shin splints includes avoiding offending activities like running or jumping. Cross-training, icing, shockwave therapy, massage, and leg braces are often prescribed. However, there is no evidence that any of these treatments help. Most of these interventions only address pain and not the main causes of shin splints.
Who Get’s Shin Splints
Shin splints may be related to a combination of inappropriate training, muscle fatigue, inadequate levels of fitness, and limited implementation of injury prevention programs. Also, developmental changes across the pubertal period may predispose young female athletes to greater risk.
Exercise Proven to Reduce the Risk of Shin Splints
A 2021 study published in the Journal of Sport Rehabilitation examined 21 teenage female track and field athletes. Half of the girls completed 6 weeks of traditional strength and aerobic training, while the other half completed a comprehensive neuromuscular training program that included jumps, landings, running, strength, endurance, agility, balance, and core training.
The injury incidence rate was 17.89 injuries per 1000 hours of exposure in the conventional training group and 6.58 in the neuromuscular training group. The shin splint incidence rate was 5.96 injuries per 1000 hours of athlete exposure in traditional training and 0.82 in the neuromuscular training group. These results prove neuromuscular training exercises reduce the risk of shin splints in female athletes.
5 Exercises for Shin Splints
Conventional rehabilitation for shin splints includes calf muscle stretching and strengthening exercises. Hold each stretch for at least 30 seconds and do 3 repetitions multiple times per day. Do the strengthening exercises for 3 sets of 12 to 15 repetitions daily.
It is also important for all injured athletes to perform neuromuscular training exercises. These exercises target balance, coordination, and power. These exercises are essential to prevent re-injury and recurrence of all overuse injuries, including shin splints. Do these exercises 3 to 5 times per week.
See Your Physical Therapist for a Personalized Program
Overcoming shin splints is no simple endeavor. The condition is usually the result of multiple contributing factors. Your physical therapist will perform a detailed physical examination to uncover these contributing factors and develop a personalized treatment plan.
Contact our office to schedule an initial evaluation with a physical therapist. The doctors of physical therapy at BSR have been helping people in Southern Ocean County feel better and get back to sports since 2007.
