Are you suffering from lower leg injury? If yes, then it is quite possible that you have injured your shinbone. Most of the sports persons and athletes tend to overuse their legs, which may cause pain in the shinbone.

Also known as shin splints (1), the pain is characteristically located on the leg’s mid region. The pain can be severe and even cause you to stop your workouts or training.

Would you like to know more about the pain in shinbone and what you can do about it? Then read this post.

Pain In Shinbone – A Few Facts:

• The exact reason for the injury is not yet known. However, the pain and inflammation are caused due to the injury of the soft tissues at the edge of the outer leg.
• Usually, a multi-faceted approach, including rest and medication, help in the recovery from the pain.
• This relative rest approach can include rest, stretching exercises, ice packs, change in the workout and footwear, anti-inflammatory medications and systematic increase in the running activities.
• This type of pain is more common among aggressive walkers and runners.
• Risk factors for those with pain in the shin include over-training on the hills, running, poor biomechanics of the designs of feet and the legs, inadequate footwear to carry out the athletic activity and more.

Symptoms Of Pain In Shinbone:

The pain in the shin occurs on the front side of the outer leg, just below the knee. The area of discomfort usually spans 4 to 6 inches in length. The pain more often breaks out during the early part of the workout, and slowly lessens and then reappears when you are at the end of the workout session. Initially, the pain is less. However, continuous pain can lead to trauma and sometimes the pain becomes extreme and is simply unable to bear. In rare cases, the pain in the shinbone can halt the training sessions altogether.

Causes Of Shin Splints Or Pain In Shinbone:

A sudden increase in the intensity or the distance of a training schedule can lead to pain in the shinbone. Increased muscle work leads to inflammation of the lower leg muscles that are used for lifting the foot (2). The situation can be further aggravated if the athlete has a tendency to roll the foot excessively inwards onto the arch (pronate the foot). Weak ankle muscles or a tight Achilles tendon also can cause pain in the shinbone.

Diagnosing Shinbone Pain:

Physical examination is the first step in diagnosing the shinbone pain. The doctor reviews the medical history of the patient carefully, focuses on the examination of legs and shins, and tries to find out the tender areas. In case the doctor wants to make further investigation or the injury is not obvious, he may recommend you specialized tests such as bone scans. However, initially the health experts advise regular tests such as X-rays, radiology tests, and MRI scans to detect any stress or fracture of the tibia or shinbone.

Treatment For Pain In Shinbone:

Earlier, two different management strategies of treatments were used for treating pain in the shinbone. These included, ‘run it through’ or ‘rest’. It was difficult for the athlete to accept the total rest approach, and the run it through approach caused the pain to become worse and in many cases enhanced the injury.

Lately, the approach towards the treatment has changed greatly.

The Multifaceted Relative Rest Approach Treatment:

A few points about the multifaceted relative rest approach treatment:

• Workouts such as pool running, stationary bicycling are encouraged to maintain cardiovascular fitness.
• Ice packs are applied to reduce inflammation.
• Anti-inflammatory medications are advised as a part of rehabilitation.
• A 4-inch wide Ace bandage is wrapped around the affected region, or a Neoprene calf sleeve is used for the purpose. It relieves the discomfort to some extent.

With this approach, it becomes easier to recover from the shinbone pain in quick time.

Did you ever have shinbone pain before? What did you do to get relief? Tell us by commenting in the box below.

The post Pain In Shinbone- Causes, Symptoms And Treatments You Should be Aware Of appeared first on STYLECRAZE.

by Renold Rajan via STYLECRAZE