Shin Splints: The Path to Beating It

There is a familiar ache that plagues many athletes training for their local parkrun or pounding our local pavements. It starts as a dull throb along the front of your lower leg and can quickly escalate into a sharp pain that makes every step miserable.

This is Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome, commonly known as shin splints, and it is arguably the worst enemy of any runner.

The Biomechanics of Tibial Overload

Shin splints are fundamentally an overload injury. Your tibia bone and the surrounding muscles are asked to absorb more force than they can handle, leading to inflammation and micro damage along the bone edge.

Several biomechanical factors contribute to this overload. A low running cadence means you take fewer, longer strides, which heavily increases the impact force traveling up your leg. Poor shock absorption from worn out shoes or running heavily on hard concrete also plays a huge role. Most commonly, it is triggered by a rapid increase in mileage before your bones have had time to adapt.

Evidence Based Insights

Current sports medicine literature provides clear insights into why this happens. Recent systematic reviews and meta analyses investigating Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome have identified specific kinematic risk factors.

The evidence shows that poor biomechanics throughout the whole kinetic chain are often responsible. Specifically, excessive pronation at the foot and poor stability at the hip cause the lower leg to twist inwards during running. This places immense rotational stress on the tibia bone.

Treating the Whole Kinetic Chain

Because the problem rarely originates just in the shin, rubbing some cream on your leg is not going to fix it. At OnePointHealth in Ryde, we look at your whole kinetic chain.

We assess everything from your initial foot strike to the strength of your gluteal muscles holding your pelvis stable. By improving your hip stability, increasing your cadence and potentially using custom orthotics to correct your foot mechanics, we can drastically reduce the stress on your shins.

If you are battling lower leg pain, it is time for a comprehensive biomechanical assessment. Let us help you beat shin splints and get back to pain free running.