Shin Splints (Medial Tibial Stress Pain)
Shin splints is a description, not a diagnosis. It tells us where it hurts along the inside edge of your tibia. It does not tell us why the tissue is being overloaded — and that is the part that decides whether you keep running or keep hurting.
In almost every runner we see, the shin is the victim. The cause sits above it or below it: a stiff ankle, a weak or late-firing calf, a hip that lets the knee drift inward, or a training jump the tissue was not ready for.
What It Feels Like
- Aching or burning along the inner border of the shin, usually the lower third
- Pain that warms up and fades early in a run, then returns and worsens later
- Tenderness when you press along the bone edge
- Soreness the morning after a hard or long effort
Why It Happens
- A jump in mileage, pace, or hill and track work without a build-up
- Limited ankle dorsiflexion forcing compensation up the chain
- Calf complex that fatigues early and stops absorbing load
- Hip and glute weakness letting the knee and shin collapse inward
- Worn shoes or a sudden change in shoe, surface, or cadence
The Evaluation
What We Check In Person
55 minutes, one-on-one, hands-on. No dividing attention between three patients, and no spending most of the hour on exercises you could have done at home.
- Joint-by-joint mobility testing from the lumbar spine to the great toe
- Side-to-side strength comparison — left versus right, strength versus flexibility
- Gait and movement observation from the front, both sides, and behind
- Hands-on assessment of the tibialis posterior, soleus, and the bone edge itself
- Screening for anything that looks like a bone stress injury rather than a soft-tissue overload
Try This At Home First
Start here. If it does not change in two to three weeks, that is the signal you need eyes and hands on it.
Calf raises, slow and full range
Rise all the way up, lower slower than you rise. Both legs first, then single leg when you can control it.
Wall ankle mobility
Knee drives toward the wall over the toes with the heel down, easing the stiffness that forces the shin to work harder.
Lateral band walks
Wakes up the glute medius so the knee and shin stop drifting inward under load.
Back off, don't stop
Cut volume and intensity to the level that does not leave next-day soreness instead of shutting running down entirely.
This page is general education, not a diagnosis or a treatment plan for your specific injury.
When To Book An Appointment
- The pain is sharp, pinpoint, or hurts when you hop on that leg
- It has lasted more than two or three weeks despite backing off
- It comes back every time you build mileage
- You have a race on the calendar and cannot afford to guess