Shin Splints?

Shin Splints seems an odd name.   Unlike most other medical terms, no sexier/more medically accurate term has ever been created to call this malady.

I mean, sure, it happens at the shin, which seems to be a rather antique name unto itself.  For the uniformed, the shin is the front part of the lower leg.

And "splints." I've never known where that comes from.  And I pride myself on understanding word origins and that sort of thing.  No idea.

Generally speaking, Shin Splints are used to describe any persistent pain along the front part of the leg between the knee and ankle. 

Treatment has been limited and largely ineffective.  Treating the local pain with ice is the most common method but does nothing about the underlying cause of the problem.

The underlying cause of the problem?  The way the foot hits the ground.

Shin Splints are one of those things that I don't see in the clinic much.  Most people just resign themselves to the pain.  Ice and ibuprofen take the edge off so treatment usually stops there.

No, this is one of those problems that I will discover when I notice one of my athletes limping.  I'll ask them what is wrong and they will reply "Shin Splints."

Or where someone stops me and finally asks if there is anything that can be done.

Let me take a commercial interlude and say for the record that I never mind being stopped and asked my medical opinion outside of the clinic.

I get stopped lots. In the middle of the grocery store.  At a restaurant.  In the bike shop that I spend lots of time (and too much money) in. 

If you know me really well, you know that my desk at Total Rehabilitation-Cherokee is actually on a countertop between the rehab side and the fitness center.  I prefer it that way so that people can easily ask for help or my opinion on what they are doing or their injury.

I am always flattered when someone asks my opinion.  When the day comes that that stuff bothers me, I'll quit.  Go home.  Retire (there...I said it...a word I generally abhor).

When somebody comes up and asks me about the pain in their shin, I generally ask "just how flat are your feet?"

Because the two are completely related.  People with flat feet that insist on running will often get Shin Splints. 

And people with an arch but who are "pronators" get them.  And those with a really high, really rigid arch get them too.

For you see, the problem is impact forces.  The force transmitted up the leg when the foot hits the ground.  The flat foot doesn't dissipate those forces well.  Neither does the high rigid arch. 

The solution?  Fix the way the foot hits the ground.  Most often with an Over-The-Counter arch support but occasionally with custom orthotics.

And let me add that it isn't a problem that should be ignored because those same impact forces can lead to a stress fracture in the main lower leg bone (the tibia).