Shin Splints - What are they and why are they so painful?Shin Splints is the term given to the very painful hurt in the leg that occurs after exercise. Most common amongst runners and sports people it can also happen to walkers. One cause of Shin Splints are over used muscles either an acute injury or delayed-onset muscle soreness. (DOMS) Shin pain may also be the result of inflammation of connective tissue such as periosteum (periostitis). The pain may be caused by a stress fracture in the bone or some other problem like osteosarcoma. Pain in the lower leg may also be referred from a distant area of the body, such as pressure on the sciatic nerve (sciatica) which lies in the posterior thigh. More often associated with runners and sports players it can and does none -the -less affect walkers. Most likely for a novice walker it would be due to an imbalance between the muscles that lift the foot and those that pull it down.
In proper pronation the foot strikes the ground on the outside of the heel and then rolls toward the inside of the foot approximately 5%. The ideal degree of pronation varies slightly with the individual. It is determined by factors such as the height of the arch (a higher arch has more clearance for pronation than a low arch) and the flexibility of the arch. In over pronation, the foot rolls in too far. The result is that the foot pushes off almost entirely from the big toe, causing excessive strain on the big toe and the outside of the shin. In contrast, under pronation occurs when the foot does not roll enough. This causes the entire weight of the foot strike to concentrate on too small an area on the outside of the foot, which places a corresponding strain on the shin. It is also commonly believed that a contributing cause of shin muscle pain in some cases is the relative weakness of the muscles on the anterior of the lower leg compared to those in the calf. In this case, exercises that preferentially strengthen the anterior muscles may help alleviate or avoid shin splints. The shin pain is attributed to a forced extension of the muscle, in this case by the opposing calf muscles which "overpower" the shin. If the pain does occur when you are walking slow right down Another consideration and perhaps the most important is not too over-stride. To use the old fashion term 'stepping out' perhaps exemplifies the reason so many suffer with Shin splints. If you are in the region of 6ft tall and you are setting off on your walk nice and fresh it is quite normal to really go for it so to speak and take good long strides. That is the wrong thing to do. It is easy for a person of a hight of around 6ft to take a stride of about 1 yard which really is what many people strive to achieve. However this is not really the correct distance to cover with a step or stride. The Romans used the human anatomy to create the standard distance that we know today. An inch is the distance measured from the tip of the thumb to the knuckle of the average man. (12 poppy seeds) A 'foot' is exactly that. A measure of a foot (144 poppy seeds). A yard is the distance of 3 foot lengths. For those of you who can remember from their school days a 'Rod, Pole or Perch'is 22 yards in length and that was defined as the distance a man could dig a ditch in one day. 10 of those made up a furlong and 8 furlongs make a mile. All of which has some sense in being related to the human body which is sort of constant or was at the time of inception. Unlike the metric measurement that ruled that a metre was - supposedly representing the ten millionth part of a quadrant of the circumference of the earth. Thus the French introduced the metre in France at the end of the eighteenth century. However i digress. Assuming the ratio of a man who is 6 ft tall would have a foot that measures 12 inches then his stride ideally would benefit him by being about 2 - 21/2 feet in length. So if you are 5 feet tall with a size 3 foot your step should be 2 to 2.1/2 times the length of your foot. Restricting your stride to this length will not place a strain of your skeletal make up and you will be more comfortable overall and lessen the chance of getting Shin Splints. If it does occur when you are out walking slow down and tread gently and end the walk as soon as possible. If you have an ice pack handy apply that to the hurting area and keep it there for approx 20 mins. this will stop the swelling and ease the pain. R.I.C.E. Rice. The acronym for Rest,Ice,Compress and Elevate which is the procedure when any sports person will follow following an injury and it is as good for you as it is for them because you are now in the realms of sport when walking is taken seriously. After this the swelling and bruising will have eased and now is the time to apply some heat. The heat will encourage your blood to flow to the affected and rapidly help to heal. If the shoes that you are walking are not newin perhaps now is the time to consider buying a new pair. If you are using just any-old-shoes then invest in some purpose made walking shoes If they are proper walking shoes and you have covered more than 500 miles in them then the cushioning inserts will have lost the cushioning effect even though the sole and heel may look in good nick Visit your specialist Sports Retailer and get fitted out properly with Walking Shoes designed for the job and they will ensure that they fit correctly and also test your step for pronation. If you are constantly walking on hard unforgiving concrete surfaces then try and get out onto either shingle,gravel or grass. This will soften your foot landing and assist in the lift off of your foot in the stride and hopefully you will not get splints again. Take steps/strides that are a sensible length. And when you are finished walking, exercise again, stretching those muscles especially the Ham Strings. Doing a range of exercises will help to avoid the build-up of lactic acid which would result in aching muscles later on. Have FUN and Enjoy your
Walking.
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In a similar way, improper pronation of the foot during the footstrike can also cause pain in the muscles which oppose pronation, on the inside or outside of the shin.