Shin splints
Shin splints are a common running injury. This type of injury most commonly affects someone who is just getting into running. This injury can be very painful and really limit your ability to run. However, it also responds very well to physical therapy.
The pain from shin splints is felt along the front of your shin. It usually calms down after your warm-up but then bothers you again during your run. This is often a somewhat diffuse area of pain about as wide as three of your fingers or wider.
What can physical therapy do for chain splints?
As a physical therapist, I help people work on strengthening for any areas that they specifically need. This often includes strengthening the soleus, an often overlooked muscle in the lower leg.
I also have my patients run on my treadmill so we can do a video analysis of your running form. This allows us to address any running mechanics that we need to change to get rid of the pain from shin splints. This often involves running drills to optimize your running technique.
I also do hands-on treatment such as massage, dry needling, and taping to help reduce the pain so that you can get back to running as soon as possible.