Shin splints can affect anyone from athletes to those who put a lot of stress on the lower leg. Often times, shin splints are associated with sporting activities. Basically, shin splints are small muscle tears along the front of the tibia, one of the two bones in the lower leg. They can be very painful and make certain movements quite limiting.

The two main ways people get shin splints is either overloading the muscles in some way to the point they become weak and therefore no longer support the constant pressures or through biomechanical means which pertains to how you perform something, such as a task. If you are exercising on uneven ground or applying high impact on your shins, you’re likely to suffer from shin splints so it’s always a good idea to listen to your body and stop doing an activity if it’s causing pain in your shins.

If you discover you have shin splints, don’t worry, below you’ll find ways to treat the pain when it surfaces.

1) Firstly, adjust your regime (whether that’s through work, exercise, physical activity) if you find it’s hurting your shins. For example, if you just started jogging and are noticing your shins hurt, maybe join a gym and ride a stationary bike to build up leg strength, stamina, and so on.

2) Before perfoming whatever task, be sure to warm up first to allow blood to enter muscles of the area used most. It’s very important to listen to your body and if you’re in pain, then you need to stop. Pain is your body’s warning alert system telling you to beware.

3) To help alleviate the pain, try elevating your leg(s)

Ultimately, you need to listen to your body and not push yourself beyond the pain because you could do irreversible damage which is obviously something you want to avoid!