St Albert Physiotherapy How To Get Your Pain-Free Lifestyle Back | Page 4

Runner Dealing With Shin
Splints? Beat The Pain With
Physio
Shin splints are an extremely painful and stubborn to heal injury affecting the front
or side of the lower leg, near the tibia. They often involve small leg muscle tears with
more complicated cases even fracturing the bone.
The best thing a runner can do in this situation is to seek help from a physiotherapist.
There are a number of techniques available which can be individually or combined
customized for a patient’s specific needs. Among them, a therapist can use load
modification, manual physical therapy, athletic tapping, custom orthotics or
acupuncture.
Exercise-wise, there are a couple of exercises recommended on a regular basis for
runners to avoid and alleviate shin pain. Toe raises, arch raising – lowering, calf and
bent leg stretches are among the most popular ones in ameliorating pain and they
work to strengthen the muscle in front of the shin. A foam roller calf massager can
also provide relief and help loosen muscle tension.
The conservative treatment of shin splints begins with rest, usually for a period
between two to six weeks depending on the severity of the case. The next step
involves a change of training conditions since following an injury it is highly risky to
get back to training with full force. Moderation in exercising and a decrease in
running distance, intensity and frequency by 50% is the safest way to begin with.