Running should make you feel stronger, not make every step feel like a negotiation with your lower legs.
What Are Shin Splints?
Shin splints are a common term for exercise-related pain around the shin.
Medial tibial stress syndrome commonly produces pain along the inner lower leg, particularly during or after activities involving repetitive impact.
It can affect:
- Runners
- Recreational athletes
- People returning to exercise
- Dancers
- Military personnel
- People who suddenly increase walking or running
- Athletes participating in jumping sports
What Do Shin Splints Feel Like?
Shin splint symptoms can vary.
You may experience:
- Aching along the inner shin
- Tenderness around the lower leg
- Pain during running
- Pain after exercise
- Discomfort when jumping
- Shin stiffness
- Pain when increasing walking distance
- Symptoms that return when training resumes
In some cases, symptoms may initially appear only during exercise and settle afterward.
If the pain becomes persistent, severe, localized to one small area, or occurs even at rest, it is important to have the problem assessed because other conditions can cause similar symptoms.
What Causes Shin Splints?
There is usually not one single cause.
Shin pain can develop when the lower leg is repeatedly exposed to loads that exceed its current ability to tolerate them.
Sudden Increase in Running
One of the most common scenarios is increasing training too quickly.
For example:
- Running more kilometres
- Running more frequently
- Adding hill sessions
- Introducing sprint training
- Returning to running after a long break
- Suddenly increasing sports participation
Your muscles, bones, tendons, and other tissues need time to adapt to increased training loads.
Training Surface Changes
Moving from softer to harder surfaces or suddenly changing where you train may alter the demands placed on your lower legs.
Footwear Changes
Changing running shoes or training in worn footwear may alter how you experience and distribute training loads.
However, footwear alone should not automatically be blamed for shin pain.
Muscle Weakness
Reduced strength in the calf, ankle, hip, or other supporting muscles can influence lower-limb movement and load management.
Running Mechanics
Your running pattern can affect how forces are distributed through your legs.
A physiotherapy assessment can help identify movement patterns that may be contributing to your symptoms.
Shin Splints vs Stress Fracture
This distinction matters.
Shin splints and bone stress injuries can sometimes produce similar symptoms, but they are not the same problem.
Shin splints often produce more diffuse pain along the inner shin.
A stress fracture may produce more localized pain and can become painful during everyday activities or even at rest.
If you have:
- Severe localized pain
- Pain that continues after stopping exercise
- Pain at rest or at night
- Significant swelling
- Increasing pain despite reducing activity
- Difficulty walking
seek medical assessment rather than assuming you simply have shin splints.
Can Physiotherapy Help Shin Splints?
Physiotherapy can play an important role in managing shin splints and supporting a gradual return to activity.
How Physiotherapy May Help
1. Identify the Contributing Factors
A physiotherapist may assess:
- Running history
- Recent training changes
- Lower-leg strength
- Ankle mobility
- Hip strength
- Balance
- Walking and running mechanics
- Previous injuries
- Footwear and training habits
- Sports participation
This helps create a rehabilitation plan based on your individual situation.
2. Modify Your Training Load
You may not need to completely stop being active.
Instead, your physiotherapist may help you temporarily adjust:
- Running distance
- Running speed
- Training frequency
- Hills
- Jumping
- Sports participation
- Recovery days
The goal is to find an activity level that your body can tolerate while gradually rebuilding capacity.
3. Strengthening Exercises
Strengthening can help improve your ability to tolerate physical activity.
Depending on your assessment, exercises may target:
- Calf muscles
- Foot and ankle muscles
- Shin muscles
- Hip muscles
- Core muscles
- Balance and stability
The program should progress gradually rather than jumping straight into high-load exercises.
4. Mobility Work
If ankle or calf mobility is limited, your physiotherapist may incorporate appropriate mobility exercises.
However, stretching is not automatically the answer to every case of shin pain.
The appropriate approach depends on the underlying factors contributing to your symptoms.
5. Running Rehabilitation
For runners, rehabilitation should eventually move beyond basic exercises.
A structured return-to-running plan may gradually reintroduce:
- Walking
- Jogging
- Continuous running
- Increased distance
- Increased speed
- Hills
- Sport-specific demands
The progression should be based on how your symptoms respond.
What Exercises May Help Shin Splints?
The right exercises depend on your symptoms and physical assessment.
Common exercise categories may include:
Calf Strengthening
Heel raises can progressively strengthen the calf and improve lower-leg load tolerance.
Foot and Ankle Strengthening
Exercises using resistance bands or controlled bodyweight movements can target muscles supporting the foot and ankle.
Balance Exercises
Single-leg balance and controlled movement can help improve lower-limb stability.
Hip Strengthening
Exercises targeting the hip muscles may be included when weakness or movement control is contributing to lower-limb loading.
Gradual Impact Exercises
Later in rehabilitation, controlled hopping, jumping, and running drills may be introduced when appropriate.
Can You Keep Running With Shin Splints?
Sometimes activity can be modified rather than stopped completely.
However, continuing your normal running volume while symptoms are getting progressively worse is not a sensible strategy.
Your physiotherapist may recommend temporarily reducing:
- Distance
- Speed
- Frequency
- Hills
- Sprinting
- High-impact training
Low-impact activities such as cycling or swimming may sometimes be used to maintain fitness while reducing impact, depending on your symptoms.
The return to running should be gradual.
How Long Do Shin Splints Take to Heal?
There is no single recovery timeline.
It depends on:
- How long you have had symptoms
- The severity of the problem
- Your current training load
- Strength and mobility
- Previous injuries
- How consistently you follow the rehabilitation plan
- How gradually you return to impact activity
Returning to your previous training level too quickly can cause symptoms to return.
The objective is not simply to make the pain disappear temporarily. It is to improve your body's ability to handle the activity that caused the problem.
How to Prevent Shin Splints From Coming Back
Increase Training Gradually
Avoid sudden jumps in running distance or training frequency.
Build Lower-Leg Strength
Regular calf, ankle, foot, and lower-limb strengthening can improve your ability to tolerate training.
Don't Ignore Recurring Pain
If shin pain repeatedly appears every time you increase your running, something about your current training load or physical capacity may need to change.
Allow Recovery
Hard training every day does not give your body unlimited time to adapt.
Recovery days can be an important part of a progressive training plan.
Warm Up Before Intense Activity
A gradual warm-up can prepare your body for more demanding exercise.
Return to Running Gradually
After a period away from running, do not immediately return to your previous distance and pace.
Build back progressively.
Shin Splints Treatment in Surrey at Renew Physiotherapy
Treatment may include:
- Physiotherapy assessment
- Movement analysis
- Activity modification
- Lower-leg strengthening
- Mobility exercises
- Balance training
- Running rehabilitation
- Functional rehabilitation
- Sports-specific rehabilitation
Can Shockwave Therapy Help Shin Splints?
However, shockwave therapy should not automatically be considered the first or only treatment for every case of shin pain.
A proper assessment should first determine the likely diagnosis and whether this treatment is appropriate.
A rehabilitation plan may instead focus primarily on load management, strengthening, mobility, and gradual return to activity.
When Should You See a Physiotherapist?
Consider getting assessed if:
- Shin pain keeps returning
- Running has become uncomfortable
- You have reduced your activity because of pain
- Your symptoms have lasted for several weeks
- You cannot increase your training without pain
- You have recently increased your running volume
- Shin pain is affecting sports or work
- You are unsure whether the problem is shin splints or another injury
A physiotherapist can help determine what may be contributing to the symptoms and develop a progressive rehabilitation strategy.
When Should You Seek Medical Attention?
Do not assume every type of shin pain is shin splints.
Seek medical assessment if you experience:
- Severe or worsening pain
- Highly localized bone pain
- Pain while resting
- Night pain
- Significant swelling
- Difficulty walking
- Pain following significant trauma
- Symptoms that continue despite reducing activity
These symptoms may require further investigation to rule out other conditions, including a bone stress injury.
Final Thoughts
Shin splints can be frustrating, especially when they repeatedly return every time you increase your running or sports activity.
The solution is usually not simply to stop exercising and hope the problem disappears.
A better approach is to understand the factors contributing to the overload, modify activity appropriately, improve strength and movement capacity, and gradually rebuild your tolerance to impact.
For persistent or worsening shin pain, professional assessment is especially important because several different conditions can produce similar symptoms.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are shin splints?
Shin splints is a common term for exercise-related pain along the shin, often referring to medial tibial stress syndrome.
Can physiotherapy help shin splints?
Yes. Physiotherapy may help identify contributing factors, modify training load, improve strength and mobility, and develop a gradual return-to-running program.
Should I stop running if I have shin splints?
You may need to temporarily reduce running volume or modify your training. Complete rest is not always necessary, but continuing to increase training despite worsening symptoms is not recommended.
Are shin splints and stress fractures the same?
No. They can have overlapping symptoms but are different conditions. Localized or severe bone pain, pain at rest, or worsening symptoms should be medically assessed.
How can I prevent shin splints?
Gradual training progression, appropriate strength training, adequate recovery, and addressing recurring symptoms early can help reduce the risk of recurrence.