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Shin splints (medial tibial stress syndrome)

Syndroma tibiale mediale · Syndrom mediálního tibiálního stresu (shin splints)

What it is

Overloaded bone and muscle attachments along the inner shin in runners and soldiers; untreated, it can become a stress fracture.

Symptoms & signs

  • Aching along the inner edge of the shin
  • pain at the start of a run that eases, then returns
  • tender over a long stretch of bone
  • pain at rest suggests a stress fracture

🚩 Get help if…

  • call 112 / 911 now Tight, swollen shin with numb foot during or after exercise
  • see a doctor soon Pain in one small spot on the bone
  • see a doctor soon Pain at rest or at night
  • see a doctor soon Pain that lasts after running stops

Where it strikes

Medical treatment

  • Relative rest and a graded return to running
  • MRI if a stress fracture is suspected
  • correct training errors
  • calf and hip strengthening

Natural & lifestyle

  • Increase distance slowly (no more than about 10% a week)
  • softer surfaces
  • good running shoes
  • enough calories, calcium and vitamin D

Emerging & experimental

  • Shockwave therapy
  • gait retraining with sensors

Alternative, off-label & anecdotal

Approaches used outside the guidelines, with what their supporters report and what testing has found so far.

  • Compression socks — popular; no clear benefit in trials mixed evidence
  • Orthotic insoles — trials disagree mixed evidence
  • Ice massage with frozen cups — anecdotal anecdotal / traditional

ICD codes