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Shin splints
- Care rated as ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’ by 98% of our orthopaedic patients
- No.1 for private orthopaedic care in London
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Shin splints at HCA UK
Why choose us?
If shin pain is affecting your usual daily activities and quality of life, our specialist orthopaedic consultants are here to help. With fast access to the latest tests and imaging, you’ll quickly have an accurate diagnosis and access to a tailored treatment plan.
No wonder 98% of our patients say they’d recommend HCA UK to their family and friends. We’re also proud to have a higher proportion of 'Outstanding' ratings from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) than any other UK private healthcare provider.
Shin splints, known clinically as medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS), are characterised by pain and tenderness usually felt along the front of your lower legs, in your shins. This discomfort is created by injury or stress to your tibia, which is the large bone in your lower leg.
You’re more likely to develop shin splints if you’re a runner, gymnast, athlete or highly active in other ways. It’s quite a common condition that can arise when you increase your activity levels or change the type of exercise you do, for example taking up a new sport.
The good news is that it’s usually not serious. People with shin splints tend to only feel pain while moving or exercising. In severe cases however, you might feel pain at rest.
One of the most common causes of shin splint pain is repetitive high-impact activity, such as running on a hard surface, or any activity that causes repeated stress to your shin bones.
Most patients who develop shin splints have either recently started a new exercise regime (for example, taken up running) or increased their activity levels too quickly.
During this process, the bone tissue is destroyed and rebuilt to become stronger. If you increase your exercise levels dramatically without allowing time for your bone tissue to recover and get stronger, you're more likely to get shin splits.
Wearing badly fitting footwear or training shoes can also increase the likelihood that you’ll develop shin splints by stretching and inflaming the connective tissue that joins your shin muscles to your bone.
You’ll usually experience shin splints as pain down the front of your lower legs. Depending on the severity of your condition, that pain may be mild or very severe, dull or sharp.
You could be suffering from shin splints if you experience:
- Pain during exercise that forces you to stop and may still be felt after exercise
- Pain in the inner and lower part of your leg or the front of your shin bone
- Tenderness or swelling over your shin bone that’s painful to touch
Shin splints often heal by themselves following rest but if they're particularly severe, you may need medical treatment. The best treatment option for you will depend on the cause and severity of your shin pain. It often starts with rest, ice and over-the-counter painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs.
If the condition doesn’t improve, your orthopaedic specialist may offer blood tests to help identify any vitamin or mineral deficiency, helping you to optimise your bone health. They may also suggest a course of physiotherapy, surgical intervention or shockwave therapy.
The expert and experienced HCA UK team is here to offer a personalised diagnosis and treatment plan and support.
No.1
in London for private orthopaedic care**
10
specialist orthopaedic fields offering personalised treatment
97%
of our patients would recommend us to family and friends*
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Fast access to state-of-the-art diagnostics
If your GP thinks you have shin splints, you’ll be referred to a specialist orthopaedic consultant here at HCA UK. They’ll make a diagnosis by asking about your medical history, your symptoms and your exercise regime including whether you’ve recently changed it or started a new sport.
They’ll carry out a physical examination and normally request same-day imaging at one of our state-of-the-art diagnostic centres to confirm your diagnosis and check for minute stress fractures in your lower leg bone. Your specialist may order an X-ray first, although two-thirds of this kind of stress fracture won't show up using X-ray alone.
So if your X-ray comes back clear, they may still refer you for an MRI or bone density (DEXA) scan. An experienced HCA UK radiologist will always review and report on your scans to your referring consultant.
Shin splints treatments at HCA UK
Personalised treatments, focussed on you
Your treatment plan will depend on the cause and severity of your shin pain. It may well start with rest, ice, painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen which can help to reduce swelling and allow your bones and muscles to heal.
Your specialist may also suggest modifying your exercise regime and more supportive footwear. They might offer blood tests to identify any vitamin or mineral deficiencies that we could address to help optimise your bone health and refer you onwards for physiotherapy. You’ll be encouraged to do home stretching too, to help strengthen your leg muscles and improve your flexibility.
For milder cases, this may be enough to treat your shin splints and manage your symptoms. If you've experienced severe symptoms for more than three months, your consultant may decide that surgery or shockwave therapy is the best way forward:
Accessing private healthcare
Self-pay
You don’t need health insurance to be seen quickly. If you’re looking for a diagnosis or treatment and don’t want to wait, all our private healthcare services – from private GP appointments through to surgery and aftercare – can be paid for as and when you need them.
And to give you peace of mind from the start, we’ll offer you a clear and transparent quote outlining exactly what treatments you’re paying for.
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FAQs
Shin splints are one of the most common injuries involving the lower leg. It's thought that around one in five runners will experience shin splints at some point.
If you’re an athlete, dancer or runner you’re more likely to develop shin splints, especially if you don’t wear supportive footwear. People who walk or run very long distances are often at risk, as well as anyone who’s recently changed the type, frequency or intensity of their exercise regime. People with rigid or high arches or flat feet are also biologically predisposed to developing shin splints.
If you're at risk of developing shin splints and stress fractures, there are a few things you can do:
- Wear cushioned, well-fitting footwear to increase support
- Speak to a podiatrist if you have flat feet or high arches
- Slowly increase any exercise and activity level by no more than 10% per week
- Warm up and stretch at the start and end of each session
- Rest and recover in between activities
- Listen to your body and stop and rest if you feel discomfort
When you engage in high-impact, repetitive activities such as running, the muscles and connective tissues in your lower leg tug against one another. This continuous tugging and pressure can cause inflammation and micro-tears.
Yes, they often do – but rest is key. After a few weeks of rest, shin splints usually go away without medical help. Taking time out of your exercise regime to let your body recover is important.
If you resume high-impact activity without allowing the tissue time to heal, you can cause further damage, including tibial stress fractures, which are minuscule cracks in the bone.
Usually, patients with shin splints start to feel better in three or four weeks and go on to make a full recovery. If your shin splints progress to the stress fracture stage, your recovery is likely to take six to 12 weeks, or even longer.
If you'd like to remain active while you wait for your shin splints to heal, you can do some low-impact exercises such as swimming or cycling, as long you're not feeling pain.
Most patients won't need surgery to treat shin splints. We'll only ever recommend surgery if your shin splints are causing severe pain, have lasted more than three months and other non-surgical treatments have been unsuccessful.
We may suggest shockwave therapy before resorting to surgery. This uses a pneumatic device to stimulate tendon cells and promote pain relief, similar in feeling to a hard massage.
A fasciotomy is a surgical procedure that involves making small incisions into the fascia surrounding your tibia to relieve the pressure in your shin muscles and provide relief from pain.
Before the procedure, your consultant will ask about your medical history, activity levels and symptoms. They'll fully explain the procedure and let you know about any potential risks and side effects.
A fasciotomy is carried out under anaesthetic so your consultant will need to know what medications you're on and they’ll discuss the different anaesthesia options with you beforehand.
If your consultant has advised that you should have the procedure under general anaesthetic, they'll let you know how long you need to fast before the operation.
Your surgeon will make a small cut to open the restrictive fascia in your lower leg, relieving pressure and increasing blood flow to the muscles and nerves in that area.
If your shin pain is caused by tension in multiple muscle compartments, your surgeon will make multiple incisions. In extreme cases, they might remove small sections of the fascia to help solve your shin splint symptoms.
In more acute cases, your surgeon might use a skin graft to help the area heal and to decrease the risk of the symptoms recurring. As your body heals, the skin graft will fuse to the skin surrounding it.
You can normally return home on the same day as the procedure, although, if a larger incision is required or your surgeon needs to repair soft tissue damage with skin graft, you might need to stay in hospital overnight.
Your surgeon will provide you with pain relief medication to help you feel more comfortable after your surgery. If they can close the incision on the same day as your surgery, once the swelling has subsided, you'll be able to go home and have a follow-up appointment a week or so later.
In the first week after your surgery, you'll need to keep your leg elevated and use crutches to avoid putting weight through your leg.
After 10-14 days, your surgeon will take out the stitches, and you can start to build strength and flexibility with physiotherapy sessions.
The cost of your treatment will depend on the package of care your consultant recommends. For your peace of mind, we offer transparent pricing and will outline exactly what’s included in your package and the overall amount you can expect to pay.
Of course, the final cost of your treatment will depend on your specific diagnosis and the treatment plan that you and your consultant agree is right for you.
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This content is intended for general information only and does not replace the need for personal advice from a qualified health professional.