Relief for shin splint pain can be straightforward—but sometimes it requires professional help. This ailment of runners and walkers might simply be fixed with a change of shoes or a careful stretch routine. But other cases can be stubborn, continuing to hurt even with those adjustments. Let’s look at why pain from shin splints can persist and how it can be relieved.  

Shin splints are caused by excessive force on both the lower leg muscles and their attachments. This results in micro-tears or inflammation, which can be intensely painful for many hours after running or walking. The injured person might even feel pain when first starting to move in the morning, due to their muscles stiffening overnight. Many folks with shin splints must stop running while they heal, which can take anywhere from several weeks to months without the right intervention.  

The cause of shin splints is often simple and can be easily resolved in many cases. For instance, a runner might realize that she jumped too quickly into a strenuous regimen on hard pavement. After taking a couple weeks off, buying shoes that are adequate for hard surfaces, and following a more incremental training schedule, she can likely resume pain-free.  

Meanwhile, another runner might learn that his shoes show a foot pronation wear pattern and start using shoe inserts to correct this pronation. Both of these examples illustrate the three most common, obvious causes of shin splints:    

• Doing too much activity, too soon  

• Running or walking extensively on hard surfaces with inadequate shoes  

• Pronation, or collapsing of the ankle and foot arch  

A Deeper Problem 

However, most shin splint patients I see have already tried correcting those problems. They improved their shoes, altered the pace of their training, took time off when necessary, and began to stretch before and after their workout routines—but they still have pain.  In these cases, we need to look at other problems that cause excess strain of the leg muscles.    

For these folks, I find there is generally an imbalance in the muscles of their lower back, hips, or thighs. These imbalances cause them to lose control of their joint alignment and stability while in motion, which forces their leg muscles to work harder, while compensating for the issue. This overstresses the leg muscles and results in painful shin splints. Let’s examine two distinct cases that illustrate the problem.   

Case One: Tightness in the Hips 

A patient, whom I will refer to as Tammy, had been a long-distance runner in high school, but experienced shin splint problems when she tried to resume running in her 30s. She thought the pain would resolve once her body acclimated to running, but it continued to worsen.   

She took some time off, then tried to ease back into running at a slower pace, but still the pain persisted. She changed shoes, wore arch supports, and became a diligent stretcher—all to no avail. She was upset and frustrated to see how a form of exercise that had come so easily to her as a teenager could be so difficult now.   

As it turned out, Tammy had tight hip flexor muscles and weak, underdeveloped glutes.  This was not from a lack of stretching and exercise, but rather, due to restrictions in her lower back and hip areas in the connective tissue, called fascia.  This tissue creates the position sense that allows for optimal muscle balance.