Shin splints
The shin splints is the name for a painful sensation in the shins. This condition, also known as medial tibial edge syndrome or colloquially as shin splints , usually occurs after physical activity. This condition can be caused, for example, by intensive jogging or, in principle, any other type of sport in which stresses affect the shin and foot muscles . The often slow healing is also uncomfortable. Some medical professionals doubt that shin splints are an independent clinical picture or whether other causes lead to the clinical picture. One view in sports medicine is to classify shin splints as a symptom with several possible causes and not as a final diagnosis.
Causes of pain
Overused muscle
Overuse of the muscles can be considered a cause . Overuse can occur in a variety of sports such as running, soccer, or basketball . The aforementioned ball sports with the characteristic rapid changes of direction can quickly lead to shin splints in untrained athletes. However, the symptom can also occur in trained athletes, for example after gaining weight or after changing shoes. Shin splints can also occur when intensively engaging in sports that are generally considered to be gentle on muscles and joints, such as roller skating or Nordic walking . The pain often occurs the next day after intense exercise. If you continue to exercise in this state, the pain often occurs immediately during exercise.
Inflammation or injury to the muscle
The pain can also result from inflammation or overstimulation in the affected area. It happens again and again that amateur athletes attribute the pain to an overuse of the muscle and an inflammation is only determined by a doctor after weeks.
A torn muscle fiber cannot be ruled out if the pain persists despite stopping exercise.
Periosteum inflammation often occurs in the heavily stressed area on the shin . Pain after exercising can be the first sign of periosteum inflammation. In all cases, a doctor should be consulted immediately. The diagnosis can be made with an MR ( magnetic resonance imaging ) (the inflamed periosteum gives a characteristic bright signal in fat-suppressed images); MR is particularly suitable for differentiation from stress fractures.
Wrong training
The muscles are overloaded by treading the wrong way and using "hard" shoes. If you step hard with the heel , the forefoot shoots down. This rapid movement brings a lot of stress with it. It is therefore advisable to seek intensive advice from a doctor or sports medicine specialist in the event of poor posture, overweight or insufficient training. A consultation with a performance analysis when buying shoes is also recommended.
Vitamin D deficiency
One study found that vitamin D deficiency may contribute to shin splints. Patients who suffered from shin splints had a 9.5 times higher chance of also suffering from vitamin D deficiency than the control group with the same age and sex without shin splints.
Individual evidence
- ↑ S. Bambach et al .: Standards of Sports Medicine . 2006, p. 282f.
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from April 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Ashford R: Trauma related shin splints. Shin splints are symptoms, not a diagnosis . In: BMJ . 318, No. 7197, 1999, p. 1560. PMID 10356037 .
- ↑ Y. Aoki, K. Yasuda et al. a .: Magnetic resonance imaging in stress fractures and shin splints. In: Clinical orthopedics and related research. Number 421, April 2004, pp. 260-267, PMID 15123957 .
- ↑ Mansour Babaei, Mehdi Esmaeili Jadidi, Behzad Heidari, Hemmat Gholinia: Vitamin D deficiency is associated with tibial bone pain and tenderness. A possible contributing role . In: International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases . tape 21 , no. 4 , April 2018, p. 788-795 , doi : 10.1111 / 1756-185X.13253 .
