Shin Pain - Introduction

Shin pain is a very common lower leg complaint that usually manifests itself as shin splints. Shin splints are characterized by pain in the front or side of the lower leg, particularly near the shin and often involve small tears of the leg muscle near the shin bone. It is especially common among people involved in athletic pursuits such as running and walking, although non athletic activities such as standing all day at work can also lead to shin splints. Symptoms include tightness, tenderness on palpation of the edge of the shin bone (tibia) and throbbing of the shins during and after activity. The symptoms often disappear at rest then return as soon as activity is resumed.

Once you have finished reading the following we encourage all foot pain sufferers to contact our resident podiatrist to discuss your foot pain frustrations in more detail. 

Causes of Shin Pain

• A sudden increase in activity is the most common cause either when first starting an exercise program or when increasing distances to quickly. 
• Exercising on hard surfaces
• Tight lower leg muscles.
• Exercising in shoes with inadequate support and/or cushioning.
• Biomechanical factors such as excessive pronation of the foot are considered to be significant contributing factors in the cause of shin pain. When the foot contacts the ground taking all our weight it begins to flatten (pronates) to absorb the shock of our body weight hitting the ground. One of the important muscle groups helping to control this motion are the muscles in our shins. When the foot flattens too far these muscles are overworked and become fatigued and painful. The muscle attached along the inside of the shin bone is the tibialis posterior muscle which is over worked when the tibia internally rotates as a result of this excessive pronating of the foot. The over repeated contraction of the muscle on the tibia bone will eventually cause irritation then pain.

Shin Pain - Treatment

• The aim of the treatment is to reduce the amount of the excessive pronation (flattening) of the foot which will in turn reduce the internal tibial (shin) rotation. This will reduce the over action of the tibialis posterior muscle which is one of the main causes of shin pain. An orthotic does this best by controlling the excessive pronation and flattening of the arch of the foot. Podlink orthotics offer excellent shock absorption due to the material used in the heel region and will restore the foot and its posture to the right biomechanical position. We highly recommend gradually wearing in Podlink orthotics over 2-4 weeks. The foot will adapt to this biomechanical posture reducing the symptoms quickly. Combine Podlink orhtotics with the appropriate footwear and measures below for best results.  Click here to choose your Podlink foot care orthotics shin pain treatment.
• Reduce or stop exercising for a period of time to allow inflammation in the shin area to subside.
• Icing the affected area.
• Stretching the muscle groups around the shin region.