Shin pain during jogging often indicates an overload of the muscles. In this article, together with our experts from Physiosport Köln, we reveal what kind of injury you might have, what you can do about the pain and how you can avoid shin pain during running training in the future.
Physiosport Cologne has already helped a number of (professional) athletes to make a successful comeback. They are the absolute professionals when it comes to sports injuries.
Shin pain while jogging - what you can do about it
Do you have shin splints or aching feet after jogging? Then you are not alone. Many runners:inside suffer from pain in their shins after running. Stress fracture and shin splint syndrome, for example, are among the most common ailments that can result from wear and tear or overuse after or during jogging. We'll show you how these pains develop in the first place, what you can do about them and how you can prevent them.
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The stress fracture in the midfoot - when the foot hurts after jogging
If you put too much stress on your foot while jogging, its skeleton and ligamentous apparatus can literally come under "stress". At a certain point, the bones can no longer withstand the load and a fracture occurs (technical term = fracture).
1.1 What is a stress fracture anyway?
A stress fracture is a partial or complete fracture that occurs due to repeated so-called "microtrauma". Microtrauma often involves microscopic injuries in the musculature or bone tissue. In a stress fracture in the foot, the so-called os metatarsale II is particularly often affected. It is the longest of the metatarsal bones. Stress fractures can also occur in other parts of the foot in runners.
1.2 How does the stress fracture occur?
The stress fracture is a typical injury caused by overload. Anyone who trains the same exercises too intensively or too frequently, or exposes their bone apparatus to too intense a load, stresses it. As a result, small injuries to the bone occur again and again. These initially go unnoticed and those affected do not limit their training intensity.
In fact, the body first responds by the bone "repairing" itself over and over again and even becoming stronger. In the process, the so-called "osteoblasts" are activated. These bone cells are responsible for building up bone substance. But as soon as you do not regenerate sufficiently or the load is regularly too high, the bone is damaged bit by bit until finally the stress fracture occurs. It comes seemingly suddenly for many athletes, but it is the result of a usually longer process.
In the first phase, the bone is also not really fractured yet. Rather, the bone density has decreased so much due to the load and the lack of regeneration that it leads to pain and ultimately a real fracture can occur.
By the way: If the bone apparatus is not loaded at all, the stimulating stimulus on the osteoblasts is missing, so that they form less bone substance and the degradation by the osteoclasts predominates. To maintain or improve bone density, regular training is important.
1.3 How can I recognize a stress fracture?
You can recognize a stress fracture by pain after jogging. The pain is described as bony pressure pain. You can often also recognize a local swelling on the foot.
However, because the stress fracture usually develops gradually, you may not feel anything for a long time, despite constant microfractures, until suddenly a sharp pain "shoots" through your foot while running.
1.4 How do I find out if I have a stress fracture?
A typical symptom of a stress fracture is bony pain, which occurs primarily under stress during running or jogging. However, only imaging by the doctor provides certainty. If the stress fracture is already far advanced, it can also be seen after an X-ray. On an X-ray, the stress fracture is usually only visible when it has already been developing for several weeks. A more detailed picture and especially at an earlier stage of the stress fracture is provided by an MRI. The MRI can be used to detect bone edema, for example. Your doctor can even use the MRI findings to make a prognosis as to when you can start playing sports again.
1.5 How do I treat the stress fracture as a runner?
If you are diagnosed with a stress fracture, the first thing to do is to immobilize it. This is especially true if the fracture is already in an advanced (=higher grade) stage. This is the case when a so-called "fracture line" is already visible and the bone has already broken through. If a "real" fracture of a metatarsal has occurred, regeneration and healing take considerably longer. This is especially true if the outer metatarsal bone was damaged at its base. Then several months of rest are required for the foot.
When immobilizing, cold can help relieve the pain and irritation. To relieve the foot when walking, insoles can make sense.
As part of a passive therapy (=only the symptoms are relieved or the body is supported in healing, but no causes are eliminated), the use of NSAIDs can help. Specifically, you can relieve pain with ibuprofen tablets or ointment. However, you should not do this permanently, but only to break the pain cycle.
Taking painkillers for a long time can distort your body feedback. For example, you may not realize that you are putting too much stress on your foot too soon with the stress fracture because of the pain medication. This can significantly prolong healing.
Manual therapy can be helpful. Often, a stress fracture is caused by a purely biomechanical problem. For example, hardened calf and shin muscles can mean that shocks are no longer adequately absorbed when rolling and you consequently land too hard on your foot. Manual therapy loosens these muscles and reduces the strain on the foot.
Good to know: On the Internet or elsewhere, one often reads that shock wave therapy can also help with a stress fracture. In fact, a positive effect of this form of therapy on a stress fracture has not yet been proven by a study.
What you can do as part of active therapy:
- You look for the factors that promoted the stress fracture and correct them. For example, it may make sense to adjust your training volume or your diet.
- If you repeatedly experience bone pain or stress fractures after jogging, an examination of your blood values in the laboratory can provide information. There you can see, for example, how hormones such as testosterone, parathyroid hormone or minerals such as calcium and phosphate are metabolized.
- Continue your training without stressing or overloading the affected areas. Swimming or cycling is a good alternative to jogging.
If the therapy after the diagnosis "stress fracture" does not bring any success or if there is always severe pain despite therapy, surgery may be the last alternative to be chosen. During surgery, a plate is inserted to support the affected bone, for example.
1.6 How can I prevent a stress fracture while running?
- You can therefore act preventively by avoiding, for example, too rapid increases or sudden changes in training conditions (different surfaces, different footwear) during training.
- Strengthening your foot and lower leg (shin/calf) muscles will do you a lot of good. These muscles absorb shock while running and reduce the load on your feet.
- Do an equipment check and replace "worn-out" running shoes with new ones. Use insoles if, for example, a treadmill check reveals a foot malposition. Get advice from a specialist retailer when buying running shoes. And for motivation you can design your own running shirt
| Physiosport Cologne are the experts for physiotherapy, osteopathy and training/sports therapy. They combine their range of services with an efficient, interdisciplinary medical network. Innovative therapy concepts, many years of experience in competitive sports, modern and centrally located locations and a qualified and dynamic team of therapists get you back into everyday life after injuries, operations and accidents, but also back into competitive sports. |
Shin splint Syndrome
If you have pain in your shin during or after jogging, shin splint syndrome may be responsible. Here you can find out how it develops and how you can avoid it.
2.1 What is the shin splint syndrome anyway?
Tibial edge syndrome describes pain felt at the inner edge of the tibia. Related terms are also tibial edge syndrome (tibia = shin bone), shin splint syndrome or MTSS (medial tibial stress syndrome). Some also say "periosteitis" (lat. periostitis).
Medial tibial tendon syndrome should not be confused with lateral tibial tendon syndrome. This also involves pain in the tibia. However, this is due to a dysfunction of the tibial muscle.
2.2 How does the shin splint syndrome
develop?
In fact, science is not in complete agreement as to the exact causes of medial tibial tendon syndrome. However, it is thought that muscle fibers connecting the tibia to certain calf muscles irritate the periosteum of the tibia. This irritation is then similar to the bone irritation that precedes the stress fracture. The permanent irritation of the tibia bone causes fine cracks and the bone has too little time to regenerate, which eventually leads to pain.
The stress on the tibia bone ultimately arises from the fact that the musculature does not adequately absorb shocks during rolling. The insufficient damping occurs because the muscles responsible for this are hardened, for example. This can be caused, among other things, by overpronation, i.e. the foot tilts too much inward during rolling.
2.3 Shin splint syndrome symptoms
A tibial plateau syndrome is primarily manifested by pain. Pain along the medial tibial edge, especially in the lower two-thirds, is characteristic. Another symptom may be tenderness. You can check this by pressing on your shin.
Another typical symptom of tibial plateau syndrome is a sudden pain flare-up, which occurs when the shinbone is loaded again after a break of several days.
2.4 Diagnosis
In addition to the typical symptoms, an X-ray will initially help your doctor rule out a fracture of the tibia. However, your doctor will usually find out whether the cause of your pain is tibial plateau syndrome by taking a thorough medical history.
To be certain, an MRI can be done. This imaging procedure is also important if there seems to be no relief or cure after several attempts at therapy.
2.5 Shin splints syndrome treatment - that helps
First relief can come from cold. Cool compresses or ice packs can relieve pain and irritation. You should also not put any strain on the affected area and take a short break. As long as you don't stress your shin or the muscles there, you can continue to exercise, such as swimming or stretching. Customized insoles can also help reduce the strain.
As a passive therapy, you can take painkillers for pain relief in the form of ibuprofen. This active ingredient belongs to the so-called NSAIDs, which can inhibit pain and inflammatory processes in the body. Important: Painkillers only ever combat the symptoms, but not the causes. Continued use can distort your perception of pain and cause you to put weight on your shin much too soon.
As important components of active therapy you should:
- stretch and strengthen the calf muscles.
- control overpronation by strengthening the relevant muscle groups.
- control the causes and promote self-healing. For example, the bones can heal much better in contrast to tendons that are not supplied with blood.
2.6 How can I prevent the shin splint syndrome in the future?
- Strengthen your calf muscles: This can optimize the rolling motion. At the same time, the body's own cushioning is improved, thus reducing the load on the shin.
- Optimize your footwear: Throw away old running shoes and get advice on new running shoes from a specialist retailer.
- Reduce the load on your shin by, for example, choosing less intense forms of training. In this way, you support your bone apparatus in using its self-healing powers after stress.
