They can happen to anyone. The dreaded shin splints, the horrible pain on the front of your lower leg, the pain that can bring a grown man to his knees.
There are two main contributors to shin splints:
1: Running too much too soon.
2: Running on inclines when the muscles are not properly conditioned.
The muscle affected is the anterior tibialis, a thin sheath of a muscle located on the front of the shin bone (tibia). It's function is to dorsiflex the ankle joint, to pull the toes up away from the ground, the most repetitive movement in walking and running. Overusing this muscle will immediately cause little tears up and down this muscle where it attaches to the shin bone, inflaming the area which causes the debilitating pain that will keep you from running. The same goes when you start running on positive grades and inclined treadmills, requiring you to pull your toes higher and dorsiflex the ankle more to clear the ground. The increased contractions on the anterior tibialis will most likely bring on the shin splints.
What's the best treatment? REST! Inflammation will never go away if it is constantly stressed. You can also try icing the most tender areas. Most importantly, avoid hills which will continue to make it worse.
The best way to deal with shin splints is to prevent them. Abide by the 5 percent rule, never increase amount of mileage you run more than 5 percent a week.
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