Our team at York Foot Orthotics and Bracing is dedicated to helping all our patients with whatever lower limb pain they may be experiencing. We can provide solutions to help relieve any foot, ankle, knee, leg, or shin pain you are suffering. In this article, we will focus on shin pain and go over some of its most common causes so that you can make more informed decisions about your care.
- Shin Splints. Perhaps the most well-known form of shin pain is shin splints, called medial tibial stress syndrome in medical parlance. This condition is characterized by the inflammation of the tendons, muscles, and bone tissues around the tibia (shin bone). It most commonly affects athletes, but it can affect others as well.
- Bruising. Another common cause of shin pain is minor injuries from falls or impacts, which frequently result in bruising. You can treat bruises to the shins by resting and applying ice, although you should make sure not to place the ice directly on your skin.
- Fractures. A third cause of shin pain is stress or bone fractures to the area. Stress fractures occur when muscles become exhausted through overexertion, which makes them unable to absorb any more stress—once the muscles have reached this point, they transfer any stress to the bone, which causes tiny cracks to form. Bone fractures, on the other hand, are generally caused by significant trauma to the leg, such as a bad fall or an impact from a moving car. In either case, the fracture requires immediate medical treatment in order to prevent the injury from getting even worse.