There Are Some Shins You Don’t Want

Almost every athlete has at least once suffered from a condition commonly known as shin splints. Periostitis is an inflammation of the tissue around the shin. This is the bone that forms the calf along with the fibula. This injury is also known as a shin splint. More specifically, it consists of the inflammation of the periosteum, which is a thin membrane-like tissue that covers the bone. 

Causes

Generally, any repetitive movement or exercise can cause shin splints. It could also be the consequence of different adaptations that this body part goes through. For example, increasing the intensity of your workout routine, wearing a new pair of sneakers, running on new different surfaces, wearing shoes that do not fit you well, not warming up before doing physical activity, among others. 

These factors influence by creating a continuous vibration in the foot, which creates friction among the tissues around the shin and affects the periosteum.

The symptoms of shin splints are usually quite evident. These include swelling of the area around the calf, a burning sensation in the shin, and general soreness in the affected zone. The pain increases progressively with the intensity of the exercise being carried out. In some cases, patients could also get chills and fever. 

Treatment and Recovery

For periostitis, you can recur to the traditional and reliable methods to treat inflammation:

• To get rest. Avoid doing intense physical activities and try to give the affected area rest without immobilizing it. Low impact exercises would be ideal to help you have a quick recovery. 
• Good old ice therapy can also be helpful during the acute phase of periostitis. Remember not to apply ice directly into the skin; you could use a cloth to cover it and then keep it there for around 15 minutes.
• To get physical therapy such as hydromassages, phonophoresis, electrical stimulation, physiotherapy, among others.

Prevention

It is always better to prevent injuries rather than treating them. In the case of shin splints, there are some easy recommendations you can follow to keep this issue out of your list of concerns.

• To use proper shoes for training. Many specialized centers for runners and athletes have the technology to run tests to study their footsteps. This way, they can adapt their sneakers to their athletic profile requirements. 
• Some easy exercises for preventing shins splits include step-ups, elevating the heels while slightly bending the legs, hip hitches, side hip flections, and others. The objective of these exercises is to strengthen other muscles such as the hip and the soleus muscle to reduce the workload of the shin muscles.
• Finally, doing a good warmup session and stretching before and after exercising is key to prevent this and other similar injuries.

Orthopedic Corner | Leon Mead MD Orthopedic Doctor | 730 Goodlette Road North, Suite 201  Naples Florida 34102 | Phone: (239) 262-1119