Are you feeling that dull, achy, nagging pain in your shins every time you hit the pavement? If so, you're not alone—shin splints are a common issue for runners and athletes alike. But how long do shin splints last?
In this post, we’ll dive deep into the factors that influence the duration of shin splints, effective recovery strategies, and tips to prevent them from sidelining your fitness journey. Whether you're a seasoned marathoner or just starting your running routine, understanding shin splints can help you get back quickly and safely!
Understanding shin splints
Firstly, shin splints, otherwise known as medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS) is a repetitive stress injury to the muscle, periosteum (soft tissue that surrounds bone), and sometimes the bone underneath that involves the lower leg or shin.
Shin splints commonly feel like dull achy pain along the inside of the tibia (shin bone) over a diffuse area. It is a common running injury due to running’s repetitive nature, and while previously thought to be solely due to the actual impact of your body landing on the ground, it’s now thought to be caused by the load that the muscles apply to the bones in the lower leg.
Shin splints or medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS) represent the mildest versions of a bone stress injury (BSI) which can progress to a stress fracture if not treated properly. Identifying the difference between shin splints and a BSI is essential to determine how long shin splints will last. The gold standard for ruling out a BSI is an MRI, however a healthcare professional can perform a clinical evaluation to determine whether the level of suspicion is high enough for you to get an MRI. Generally, the smaller and sharper the painful area is, the more likely it is to be a BSI. The larger and more achy the pain area is, the more likely it is to be shin splints. This is not a perfect rule! If you suspect you may have shin splints or a bone stress injury, contact your doctor or physical therapist.
What causes shin splints
There are often multiple factors that can contribute to developing shin splints. Here are some common contributors:
Sudden increase in running mileage or speed
Incorrect footwear
Muscle weakness or imbalance in the lower leg
Nutritional deficiencies
Ultimately, the primary cause of most cases of shin splints is a sudden increase in running intensity, frequency, or duration. (1) Those who are not fueling effectively AND have a sudden increase in running training have an even greater risk of developing shin splints and subsequently stress fractures.
How to prevent shin splints
“You don’t follow a training plan so that you can finish, you follow a training plan so that you can finish without getting hurt.”
The best thing you can do to prevent shin splints is have a smart training plan with well thought out progressions, have a professional to guide you when you miss some training sessions and have to get back on track.
We work with humans at Alterra, not robots. Sometimes, you get sick, or life gets in the way, and you have to miss a training session or two. What is your plan to get back on track? Are you going to push everything back a few days? Run the miles you missed plus the miles for the current day? It can be tricky! This is where it’s helpful to have a professional who can help you get back on track safely.
The second best thing you can do to prevent shin splints is to fuel your body appropriately. There are some excellent sports nutritionists out there that can help guide you through the fueling side of your training and ensure that you are balancing all of the calories that you are burning. This especially applies to those who are on restrictive diets (gluten free, vegetarian, etc.) because these sometimes pose a baseline challenge to fueling your body adequately.
The third best thing you can do to prevent shin splints is strength training, specifically in a way that targets bone mineral density. Bones respond to specific types of load more than others, so doing something like a high intensity interval training class or pilates is going to be less effective than lifting heavy and performing plyometrics. Those activities are sometimes intimidating to runners which is why we spend so much time working on them with our clients at Alterra.
How long do shin splints last?
Like many injuries, how long shin splints last depends on the severity of the injury to the involved tissues. Mild shin splints with minimal to no observable damage to the bone or periosteum may last only 4-6 weeks, while a grade four tibial stress fracture with a fracture line may last 6+ months. (2) That’s why it is SO important to catch these injuries early so that we can prevent the progression of a shin splint into a stress fracture.
At Alterra, we specialize in helping runners resolve any and all of their injuries that limit their running ability or performance. If you're local to Boston's Back Bay area and are dealing with shin splints, we'd love to help! Book a free discovery call to chat with a therapist today.
Next on your reading list:
Disclaimer: The information in our blog posts is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Consult a healthcare provider before making decisions related to your health. Use our content at your own risk.
Sources
Deshmukh NS, Phansopkar P. Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome: A Review Article. Cureus. 2022;14(7):e26641. Published 2022 Jul 7. doi:10.7759/cureus.26641
Nielsen RO, Rønnow L, Rasmussen S, Lind M. A Prospective Study on Time to Recovery in 254 Injured Novice Runners. PLoS ONE. 2014; 9(6): e99877. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0099877
_edited.png)
Comments