Shin pain is usually the result of repetitive overuse that ends up overloading the structures such as your bone, muscle and tendons. Your calf muscles protect your shin bone from the back, however excessive load through your shin bone (tibia) will cause shin pain and numerous other injuries. To establish where exactly your shin pain is, can be very helpful at identifying what structure is causing the pain. Shin pain can be caused by any of the muscles, tendons or joints, so first we need to look at the different types of structures in the area.
Pain in your shin usually has a gradual onset and can be difficult to get rid of. Shin splints is known as pain on the inside of the shin and is not a diagnosis in itself, but rather a description of symptoms. Our experts can test, diagnose & offer effective shin pain treatment to get you running again.
How to Stop chronic, daily annoying shin pain
Without Injections, Without taking Painkillers and
WITHOUT having to wear a Support or Brace…
If you’re living with shin pain what just won’t go away, they’re painful or they ache – it’s very easy to think that it’s “just something that comes with age”, it’s a bit of “wear and tear”, or that it’s nothing and it’ll go away on its own.
You can’t quite point your finger on why you’re feeling the pain in your shin – but it doesn’t seem to be getting any better!
If that’s happening to you, you’re not alone – we hear this type of thing all the time. In fact, shin pain is one of the most common problems that we see in our Physio practice. When it comes to living with shin pain, everybody we see wants to know the answers to these questions:
Why am I still suffering with shin pain that keeps getting worse
Most people think that when they get shin pain, it’ll eventually “ease off” and go away on it’s own. That they’ll wake up one morning and like “magic”, your shin pain will be a thing of the past… But 3 months later you’re still living with the annoying shin pain, often even worse than it was at the start. Does that sound like you?
Another scenario we see all the time in our physiotherapy practice is when people go to their Doctors, and the well-meaning Doctor tells them to “rest”, “try these painkillers” and “come back in 6 weeks if it’s no better” – but then 6 weeks later, they end up going back to the same Doctor again because it hasn’t got any better, only to be given ANOTHER prescription of even stronger pills, and maybe a shin support.
Has this ever happened to you?
Maybe you’re confused because you’ve been told different things, by different people. Maybe you think you have to rest because you’ve been told walking makes shin pain worse, or that you should be doing ‘this exercise’ and ‘that exercise’ to make it better. It’s very confusing to know exactly what to do – and that’s just to avoid making your shin pain worse, not to mention getting back to jogging and all the other things you love to do.
And because of this confusion – this often leads people to procrastinate, and put off making a decision about what to do to help fix their shin pain. Worse, many people just end up accepting it as “part of life” – as if it’s normal, as if it “has” to be that way. Is this how you feel?
We are here to tell you – this is NOT what you deserve. You are made for great things, your shin pain is just a bump in the road. Make a decision to help yourself be better.
Why is your shin pain lasting longer than it should?
Does this sound like you?
If any of these have happened to you – we would love to help you. The fact that you’ve tried any or all of these things already is actually a good thing, because when you know what doesn’t work – you are closer to finding the thing that does!
We invite you to come and see us. Why? Because we do things differently. We’ll do a thorough assessment and test all the possible causes. After we’ve diagnosed your problem, and explained what it’s going to need to heal, we’ll make sure you understand why this is happening.
If you’re looking for solid advice on how to start solving your problem, click the link below to book a FREE phone call. The phone call is complimentary and there is no obligation to book any appointments with us after the call is over. This is an opportunity to get an expert’s advice about your situation. Our goal is to help you make the right decision about what to do next.
What you can do to get rid of your shin pain quickly?
Ask our shin pain experts
If you would like to know how the Physiotherapy team at Cilliers & Swart can help you, we invite you to book a FREE, no-obligation, risk-free “Call me back” phone call.
Note: This Free Call is a service we offer to people who are nervous or unsure. You might not know if Physiotherapy is the right treatment for you. If you are unsure, please fill out our online form. We will contact you to find out what is wrong and how we can help. There is no financial obligation or risk on your part. You have nothing to lose except your pain.
Choose to see a Cilliers & Swart Physiotherapist to help you Get rid of your shin pain – in the next few days?
What can we do for you?
In short, our Team at Cilliers & Swart Physio help you get back to living life free from shin pain. For information about costs and availability, click the button below:
Muscle pain
The major muscle group on the inside of the shin is the Calf muscles, Gastrocnemius muscle attaches to the top third and the Soleus muscle the middle to lower third. The Flexor muscle group also sits on the inside of the shin (Flexor Digitorum Longus, Brevis and Flexor hallucis longus) and runs along the inside of the lower leg, where their tendons run behind the knob (Medial Maleolus). Theses muscles point your toes and keeps the arch of your foot up.
Tibialis Anterior is a muscle over the front & outside of your shin that pulls your foot & ankle upwards. The muscle & tendon can develop pain that radiates along the outside of your shin.
Muscle strains are often called ‘muscle pulls’ or ‘pulled muscles’ because of the way these injuries occur, the muscle tissue is forced to stretch beyond its normal limits, and tears. Depending on the number of muscle fibers that are torn, calf muscle strains are classified as first degree (least severe), second degree (moderate severity) and third degree (most severe) strains.
Tendon pain
Tendons are cables that anchors the bone to muscle tot the bone. Every muscle has a tendon on either side of the muscle, the one at at the top called the proximal tendon and one at the bottom, called the distal tendon. Any one or multiple tendons can become irritated.
Joint
Joints can refer pain downwards from the knee, or upwards from the ankle joint. Joint pain is usually more difficult to pinpoint therefore a skilled set of hands would need to determine where the pain is coming from.
Nerve pain
Power supply to the shin comes from two big branches called the femoral nerve in the front and the sciatic nerve at the back. Irritation, compression or impingement of these nerves can cause nerve pain in your shin.
Sciatica is also a condition that can cause shin pain from the thigh, over the front of your shin, all the way to your toes. Your femoral nerve can also cause nerve pain to the front and top of your shin. Symptoms include numbness, pins & needles, weakness & dead feeling over your shin.
Shin Injuries
We have helped many patients relieve their shin pain. Most shin pain doesn’t start after a fall or injury, but usually develops over time. It can occur as a result of sports injuries, work injuries or simply everyday leg use.
If you are suffering from shin pain, rather get it checked. Please do not delay in consulting your physiotherapist if you have shin pain. Rather do something about it and get it looked at, than wait with your fingers crossed and hope it goes away.
An accurate diagnosis is vital to manage your pain and treat it appropriately, because what works for one problem rarely works for another. Many conditions can take many months or even years to heal when the diagnosis is incorrect or treatment is neglected.
What causes my shin pain?
To understand where your shin pain is coming from, you’d have to determine how you injured it, or if you can remember when it started. Some are outright obvious like when you slip on the floor or you hit your shin on the coffee table, meanwhile others are subtle and creeps up on you – getting worse day by day. So, it’s easier to establish how your pain started and changed until now. Changes in your shin pain gives us many clues to understand where your pain is coming from.
Our body consists of various types of tissue, some elastic like tendons, or strong like cables (ligaments), some tissue can generate movement & force like muscles. We rely on your shin ligament to keep us stable to stand, tendons to coordinate your ankle & knee movements while you walk, and muscles to generate power to run. The structures in your shin is quite vulnerable to injury, especially overuse injuries. There are more than 32 structures in your shin that can get injured, some problems are more common than others, but just to be safe – we test them all.
Here’s a breakdown of a few conditions that we frequently see, and how things go wrong to cause your shin pain:
Get to the root of your shin pain
Most causes of shin pain in athletes are from bone stress, insufficient blood flow, tendon inflammation, compartment syndrome or nerve entrapment. The structures in your shin is vulnerable to injury especially overuse injuries i.e. repetitive movements like a walking, climbing stairs and running. Different structures, cause different types of shin pain, although these are not concrete it’s a good guideline to which structure produces what type of pain.
- Muscle — Dull ache or stiffness, sharp pain with contraction
- Nerve — Numbness, tingling, weakness, electrical stabbing feeling
- Tendon — Burning pain with certain specific movements, pain comes & goes
- Joints — Cramp, constant stiff feeling, worse after rest, better with movement
- Fat pad — Pinching pain, pressure increases or decreases pain immediately
- Bursa — Pain only comes on after being active, better with rest
- Bone — Constant pain, sharp pain with certain movements
- Arteries — Pins & Needles, dead leg feeling, heavy feeling
- Cartilage — Sharp pain when at certain point, painful arch of movement
- Ligament — Pain at the end of range, unstable, clicking
- Referral from other joints — Difficult to pinpoint pain, vague painful area
Shin pain may be caused by:
- Repetitive overload – Bone stress fractures (Medial Tibial Traction Syndrome)
- Overload – Muscle or ligament strains and sprains.
- Trauma – Contusions, fractures
- Overuse – Tendon inflammation
- Instability – Poor ankle stability (over-pronation of the ankle joint)
- Autoimmune – Rheumatoid arthritis
- Referral from other joints – Knee or ankle joint
- Referral from nerves – Irritation, compression of the femoral or sciatic nerves.
Size – The larger the area of your shin pain, is better, because muscles in your shin stretch from your knee to below your ankle. Pain tends to radiate along the shin or calf muscles and affect large areas. Muscles heal easier & recover faster.
Colour – Bruising in & around the outside, front and inside of your shin is quite common after a bump, because of the high concentration of blood vessels in your thigh. These capillaries rupture & leak plasma that pools just below your skin. Blue discoloration closer to the front of your ankle is more concerning for it involves your shin ligaments.
Swelling – Swelling is your body’s way of healing itself by sending cells to heal the tissue. More swelling could mean more tissue damage, however not all shin injuries swell. Injury to tissue that develops over a few weeks doesn’t swell, because the tissue trauma is continuous and repetitive, so your body stops the inflammatory reaction. A new injury on an old problem is also possible.
Area – Shin pain at the front of your shin are more restrictive during walking, while pain on the outside of your shin limits you from walking on uneven terrain. If your shin pain causes you to limb you must be more concerned. Sharp pain over a small area makes it easier to pinpoint structures near your pain. Vague, dull & deep shin pain can take longer to identify the root cause. Compensatory patterns develop, sometimes it takes a while to just get rid of those.
Motion & sore shins
Stiff – Shin Stiffness followed by pain is regressing and getting worse. Seek help. Pain followed by stiffness is a good sign of tissue healing, specifically scar tissue formation. Scar tissue is hardening wound tissue that tends to shorten and pull on structures surrounding the injured site. This is more pronounced in muscle strains & tears, where the normal slide of muscles is restricted during a contraction.
Range of movement – Difficult moving your ankle through its range is a big problem. A painful arch means the Tibia takes most strain over that specific range i.e Only painful when you walk, during the heel-strike phase. Shin pain over a smaller range of movement is not necessarily better. This may point to connecting joint surfaces or the syndesmosis being injured. If you feel pain only at the end of your range its less severe and easy to fix. When your shin pain stops movement completely and too painful to put weight through your lower leg, you should definitely come see us as soon as possible.
Monitor over time:
Intensity – When you grade your pain from 0 – 10. You may think it’s not that bad because it’s not that painful. On the contrary, pain intensity is not a sign of how severe your tissue injury is for example, complete ruptures of ligaments are less painful than partial tears. When fibers are stressed while it’s anchors are completely loose, there’s not much pain, but fibers that are partially torn will produce severe shin pain. People have different pain thresholds, so be careful to ignore your shin injury.
Frequency – Pain that’s fleeting or intermittent, short burst of pain must not become more frequent and constant. This shows that the tissue damage is not getting any better. Pain that only lasts for a few seconds tend to heal faster, so the longer your pain lasts the faster you should get to us.
Latency – If your pain lags to come on and builds up over the day you must be very cautious. This is a sign of a relapse of your tissue pathology. It’s difficult to judge what makes it worse, because the pain only comes on a few hours after your activity, and not during. This is particularly noticeable with runners, the pain tends to progressively come on as they run, and continues to get worse for hours even after your run.
Loading – Pushing through your shin pain while you are walking, climbing stairs and jogging is not a good idea. Putting compromised tissue under strain is dangerous. Would you tow a car with a partially torn cable? No! Because it just needs that final pull or jerk that could cause catastrophic tissue damage. Loading soft tissue without knowing what it’s able to handle is dangerous & reckless.
Diagnosis of shin pain
Our physiotherapists know and understand the intricacy of the anatomy of your shin. There are many structures to test, and we even consider the complex biomechanics of your knee & ankle movements. We’ll accurately diagnose which structures are involved, and to what degree.
During your physiotherapy evaluation, we’ll be stretching & stressing the soft tissue structures like muscles, ligaments, nerves and tendons. This way we can diagnose muscle tears, ligament sprains, tendinitis’s and nerve irritations. We’ll test different aspects like muscle strength, range of motion, flexibility and stability in order to confirm how severe your tissue damage is, which will dictate your treatment plan.
Gathering information through our evaluation allows us to make a diagnosis based on your individual injury. Then we’ll customize the treatment to your specific needs. Therefore our physiotherapists are the best at diagnosing shin pain & shin injuries.
The Process of Diagnosis:
There is a misconception that medical practitioners are able to know exactly what the problem the moment we see our patients. People tend to point to their shin and say, “treat it”. As if we already know what’s the problem by just looking at it. Sorry to disappoint, but unfortunately this is not how it works. Let me explain:
Diagnosis is a process of exclusion, not inclusion. Medical professionals are taught a process of elimination and deduction to identify the most possible diagnosises for your shin pain. The better you can describe & elaborate on your pain, the better picture you’ll give your Physio to understand what’s happened as well as, what you’re feeling.
The practitioner uses their skills to eliminate diagnoses and zoom in on your problem. This elimination brings us to only a few possibilities to what could be causing your shin pain. Then we test & assess all our possibilities to get to the root cause of your pain. In many cases your main problem is not at the site of your pain due to compensation, guarding or it’s just the last straw that breaks (in a chain of movements). We encourage you to be honest and open about what you’re feeling – to clarify, carry on or change your Physio’s approach.
Physiotherapist treatment
We have seen many patients with shin pain and provide the best possible treatment for a faster recovery. Pain and stiffness after a shin injury prevent you to move and you might feel afraid to move, or scared you’ll damage it even more. We know that you’re anxious about the unknown, so that is why we are here to guide you and give you all the answers.
Your shin pain treatment will be tailored according to various factors, but just to give you a broad idea, our focus of our treatments are:
- Determine what structures are injured in your shin
- How bad is it injured?
- Protect it from further injury
- Help accelerate healing
- Re-evaluate to monitor progress
- Change and adapt as you get better
Cilliers & Swart Experts
Our team of experts can diagnose, test and treat any kind of shin pain. We work together to get rid of your pain as fast as possible. We have the best tools, techniques and machines to make sure you get the best value for your money. Our Physios will test a lot of different possibilities why you’re feeling this shin pain in order to explain what’s going on in your body. It all depends on the results of our tests to determine what needs to be done. All our physios are MSK specialists that can determine the slightest problem coming from your shin, knee or lower leg, so if you’re uncertain – we can help you.
Our experts determine multiple problems that can be involved, this means that we test movements to see if you may have a muscle imbalance, weakness, instability and much, much more. This is our expertise & what we’re best at. We take on many roles to achieve your goals: Teacher, counselor, trainer and coach. As a teacher we explain the extent of damage & the intricate details of your shin pain & how it may affect other problems. As a counselor & pain expert, we’ll guide you every step of the way. And like an engineer, we test the structural integrity and how forces are act on various tissues in your shin.
Shin pain Treatments we use
- Acute injury treatment
- Ultrasound
- Medications
- Soft tissue massage
- Electrotherapy treatment
- Laser (Low Level Laser therapy)
- Acupuncture & Dry Needling
- Heat packs (Thermal therapy)
- Kinesiology Tape
- Rigid Strapping or taping
- Neurodynamics (Nerve tissue mobilizations)
- Dynamic Strapping
- Strengthening exercises
- Guided loading protocol
- Stretches (Static, dynamic and ballistic)
- Moon boot
- Brace
- Compression Bandage or
- Sleeve
- Supportive strapping and taping
- Biomechanical Analysis
- Gait Analysis
- TENS
Sore Shin while running?
Is your shin pain stopping you from running & getting out there? Stop running through the pain & get your shin checked, just to confirm if you can continue without causing more tissue trauma. No, you’re not going to end up being on crutches or a moon-boot for weeks. So, stop the madness. Get your shin looked at and get all the answers you need. Most shin pain don’t start after a fall or injury, but usually develops over time. Yes, it’s more obvious in sports injuries, but you’re required to carry on with work even though you have agonizing shin pain. We know what you’re going through.
If you’re suffering, rather get it checked. Please come visit our physiotherapists if you are feeling any type of shin pain. Rather do something about it than wait with your fingers crossed and hope it goes away. If you’re expecting tomorrow will be any different than today. Stop waiting and act.
An accurate diagnosis is vital to manage your pain and treat it appropriately, because what works for one problem rarely works for another. Some conditions can take many months or even years to heal when the diagnosis is incorrect, or treatment is neglected. You could end up spending a lot more time & money to fix your problem later on. So be warned…
Why am I still suffering with shin pain that keeps getting worse
Most people think that when they get shin pain, it’ll eventually “ease off” and go away on its own. That they’ll wake up one morning and like “magic”, your shin pain will be a thing of the past… But 3 months later you’re still living with the annoying shin pain, often even worse than it was at the start. Does that sound like you?
Another scenario we see all the time in our physiotherapy practice is when people go to their Doctors, and the well-meaning Doctor tells them to “rest”, “try these painkillers” and “come back in 6 weeks if it’s no better” – but then 6 weeks later, they end up going back to the same Doctor again because it hasn’t got any better, only to be given ANOTHER prescription of even stronger pills, and maybe a shin guard/ support.
Has this ever happened to you?
Maybe you’re confused because you’ve been told different things, by different people. Maybe you think you have to rest because you’ve been told walking makes shin pain worse, or that you should be doing ‘this exercise’ and ‘that exercise’ to make it better. It’s very confusing to know exactly what to do – and that’s just to avoid making your shin pain worse, not to mention getting back to jogging and all the other things you love to do.
And because of this confusion – this often leads people to procrastinate, and put off making a decision about what to do to help fix their shin pain. Worse, many people just end up accepting it as “part of life” – as if it’s normal, as if it “has” to be that way. Is this how you feel?
We are here to tell you – this is NOT what you deserve. You are made for great things, your shin pain is just a bump in the road. Decide to help yourself be better.
Why is your shin pain lasting longer than it should?
Does this sound like you?
If any of these have happened to you – we would love to help you. The fact that you’ve tried any or all of these things already is actually a good thing, because when you know what doesn’t work – you are closer to finding the thing that does!
We invite you to come and see us. Why? Because we do things differently. We’ll do a thorough assessment and test all the possible causes. After we’ve diagnosed your problem, and explained what it’s going to need to heal, we’ll make sure you understand why this is happening.
If you’re looking for solid advice on how to start solving your problem, click the link below to book a FREE phone call. The phone call is complimentary and there is no obligation to book any appointments with us after the call is over. This is an opportunity to get an expert’s advice about your situation. Our goal is to help you make the right decision about what to do next.
What you can do to get rid of your shin pain quickly?
Ask our experts
If you would like to know how the Physiotherapy team at Cilliers & Swart can help you, we invite you to book a FREE, no-obligation, risk-free “Call me back” phone call.
Note: This Free Call is a service we offer to people who are nervous or unsure. You might not know if Physiotherapy is the right treatment for you. If you are unsure, please fill out our online form. We will contact you to find out what is wrong and how we can help. There is no financial obligation or risk on your part. You have nothing to lose except your pain.
Choose to see a Cilliers & Swart Physiotherapist to help you Get rid of your shin pain – in the next few days?
What can we do for you?
In short, our Team at Cilliers & Swart Physio help you get back to living life free from shin pain. For information about costs and availability, click the button below:
What your patients say:
Definitely recommend them. They understand your needs and are thorough in creating a diagnosis and treatment plan. Wouldn’t go anywhere else for sports injuries.
J Shabangu
My first physiotherapy session. I was so happy with the results. Carli used a combination of massage and dry needling to ease my shin pain which had become unbearable. The results were immediate. I could not believe how effective the treatment was. Highly recommended.
M Mabena
Physios are very professional and knowledgeable. Struggled with shin pain for weeks, after 2 week of doing the physio exercises I could feel a big difference. Now I know the root of my problems and received the best advice and exercises to fix my problem.
L Kriek
Been to Carli for a check up and she’s amazing! She explains all procedures and questions in detail on a level most people will be able to understand. I’d recommend her any day. Cilliers & Swart Physio is the best.
A Stander
“Best treatment I’ve ever had”
Excellent & Personalized service received from the practice. My Comrades was a success thanks to Jaco’s help
F Hawkins
Was in agony until I was assisted by Renier. He was professional and really helped to alleviate my shin pain. i enjoyed being “educated” every step of the way regarding the treatment and the progress. Will definitely and have recommended the practice to family and friends. They are the best.
S Hofmeyer