{"id":3838,"date":"2019-12-05T06:07:18","date_gmt":"2019-12-05T06:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/veryhealthy.life\/?p=3838"},"modified":"2021-08-12T07:30:07","modified_gmt":"2021-08-12T07:30:07","slug":"14-symptoms-of-shin-splits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/veryhealthy.life\/14-symptoms-of-shin-splits\/","title":{"rendered":"14 Symptoms of Shin Splits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Shin splints are one of the most commonly diagnosed types of bone and muscle injury, and it ranks among the top ten that get diagnosed every year. 
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It’s commonly seen as a type of repetitive strain injury that affects anyone who takes a lot of impact to the shins over a long period of time (such as through exercising, jogging or climbing stairs, although can also sometimes be seen as a more sudden injury or a consequence of some connective tissue disorders and conditions that weaken the bone.
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Shin splints can be a painful condition, and pain isn’t the only symptom that it can cause. It can be managed and treated once it has been diagnosed, and your doctor can recommend the best treatment options for your individual needs. Sometimes shin splints can be severe enough to require surgery but can be treated through other means like braces if caught soon enough.
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Here are the 14 symptoms of shin splits that you should know about. 
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1. Radiating Shin Pain<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Shin splints is a severe bone condition that literally causes hairline fractures <\/a>in the shins that result in some of the symptoms that are mentioned in this article; it can happen due to a sudden injury although most commonly will happen over a period of time where the shins are exposed to repeated stresses such as running or jogging.\u00a0
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One of the first symptoms that most people will experience if they have shin splints (and certainly one of the most common ones) is radiating shin pain.
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This type of pain is one that a lot of people ignore only to see the problem of shin splits turn into an increased likelihood to fracture the shin completely. If you experience any kind of radiating shin pain, see your doctor. The sooner you see your doctor from the earliest onset of symptoms, the more likely it can be that it’s going to be easier to treat.
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2. Knee Pain<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Shin splints cause pain in the shins first, but it’s also very likely that the condition is going to cause pain that radiates into other parts of the body that are connected to the shins. One of the most common \u201cother\u201d types of pain that you might experience related to shin splints is repetitive knee pain and discomfort.
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The knee pain <\/a>is often associated with the same type of impact that caused the shin splints in the first place; it can radiate in the same way, and the two types of pain will usually occur together with the other.\u00a0
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If you experience knee or shin pain, the first step should be to take the pressure off the injury and from there the second step should be to see your doctor for the right treatment to accompany the problem.
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Leaving a symptom like knee pain and resorting to the \u201cwait and see\u201d approach can be detrimental to your health.
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3. Ankle Discomfort<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Shin splints can cause pain in the shins, knees and most of the muscles that are connected to it, and these are often the first symptoms that tell most people that they should go to a doctor to get it checked out. Again, when you have shin splits it’s likely that everything else in the body is also going to hurt as a result \u2013 and the longer the condition is allowed to continue for, the worse the symptoms are going to be.
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Discomfort, pain <\/a>and swelling in the ankles is a common symptom that can accompany shin splits for the same reason that causes the pain anywhere else in the legs: The same impact that causes shin splits will affect the ankles, and the body responds to it with any one of these symptoms as a result.
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The use of a brace can be useful to relieve ankle discomfort in the case of shin splints, but instead of trying to treat this yourself, see your doctor.
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4. Pain in the Heels<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you experience pain in the shins, it’s pretty obvious that the root of the problem could be shin splits; but often the pain doesn’t begin in the shins but can be felt in other parts of the body such as the knees or ankles first \u2013 and sometimes the pain can even appear to come from the heels before anything else. 
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Pain in the heels is common with regular exercise when you’ve pushed your body too far, but it can also mean that you have an underlying injury as shin splits causing it. 
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See your doctor for the first signs of pain and discomfort. It could save you a lot of further injuries later on \u2013 and shin splits are luckily easy to treat in most cases and the pain should naturally go away.
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Never take any chances with your health: Subjecting an existing injury to more stress is only going to lead to another worse injury <\/a>accompanying it.\u00a0
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5. Lower Back Pain<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Shin splints<\/a> can cause a huge range of different pains elsewhere in the body that you wouldn’t think to relate to an injury in the shin; keep an eye on your health for any signs of discomfort or pain and see your doctor with a thorough list of the symptoms you’ve been experiencing if you want to be sure that you can get the right condition diagnosed and treated.
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Lower back pain can indicate that the muscles or vertebrae in your back are taking too much strain. But it can also indicate issues in other parts of the body that can include certain sexually transmitted conditions, general kidney infections and sometimes other health issues like shin splits that causes back pain due to posture changes. 
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See your doctor in order to be sure what condition is triggering your pain or discomfort. It’s usually the only way to know for sure. 
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6. Changes in Posture<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When the ankles<\/a>, shins or knees get affected by conditions like shin splits or arthritis, the rest of the body will usually be affected in a few other ways as a result of the first condition or injury. One of the first ways in which your body can be affected by a condition like shin splits is through changes in your posture \u2013 and you’ll notice this through pain in parts of the body like the feet.\u00a0
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Changes in posture can trigger back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain and a variety of other pains. Sometimes it can all trace back to the same thing: One part of the body not being in the condition that it should be.
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Note changes in posture and see your doctor with a list of the other symptoms that you’ve been experiencing as a result.  Usually, the cause can be easy to treat and your doctor can recommend the best treatment to relieve your individual condition.
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7. Unexplained Shin Bruising<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Bruising along the shins is another common symptom that you are likely to notice in cases of shin splints, although this might not happen in all diagnosed cases and it depends on how far the condition has progressed and how likely you are to bruise. 
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Skin bruising that goes together with shin pain is likely to be shin splints, but also might sometimes be related to bone or muscle <\/a>conditions. The other conditions that cause faster or deeper than usual bruising can sometimes be very serious ones related to the blood or to the heart \u2013 so if you aren’t sure what’s causing the sudden onset of bruising,\u00a0 it’s time to see your doctor and there are no exceptions to the rule.
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A great deal of conditions causing bruising are best diagnosed early on due to the seriousness and associated stroke risk that might be tied to some of these health conditions.
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8. Pain Next to the Shin<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Shin splints won’t only trigger pain directly in the shins, but might also trigger some types of related pain that might happen on the line of muscle that runs next to the shin. Sometimes this pain will happen only on one side, although it can also commonly happen in both.
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See your doctor if you experience pain in the shins or pain near them, even if you experience no other symptoms <\/a>together with it. If you experience serious pain next to your shins, make the appointment: Leaving the symptom over until it goes away only means that you risk serious injury due to added strain on an existing problem.
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Sometimes massage can help to relieve this associated pain, but it won’t help to get rid of the cause. See your doctor for the proper list of treatment options that can bring relief to your symptoms \u2013 treatments are usually simple and don’t require surgery.
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9. Muscle Cramping<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Muscle <\/a>cramping is very common in the case of bone and muscle injuries. This happens due to the fact that added strain is put on top of an existing injury \u2013 although there are also a few other things that can cause the same symptoms.\u00a0
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If you experience chronic muscle cramping together with pain in the shins, it could be shin splits causing it or you could be dealing with a related condition instead such as arthritis \u2013 or simple mineral depletion, which is another common injury that might accompany sports, dehydration or certain pre-existing medical conditions.
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If you experience muscle cramping, take it easy on exercise and make sure you’re getting in enough minerals such as magnesium and salts. Sometimes this can fix the problem where it’s not being caused by a condition like shin splits. 
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If the muscle cramping together with other symptoms don’t get any better, see your doctor.
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10. Increased Dislocations<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Dislocations <\/a>can sometimes go together with changes in posture and conditions like shin splints. Because of the fact that shin splints can change the way in which you walk or run, you could be more likely to develop increased dislocations that might happen in your ankles and other joints.\u00a0
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Increased dislocations together with shin pain could be a sign of shin splints, but there are also a few other conditions that it could indicate at the same time. A few minutes with your doctor can help to tell you what might be up.
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In a few rare cases, this symptom could be caused by an underlying connective tissue disorder like Ehlers-Danlos or Marfan Syndrome that will also require a doctor’s diagnosis and might need lifestyle changes from there. Some of the symptoms on this list can go together with weakened connective tissue, but these symptoms are more serious where they indicate underlying disorders like these. 
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11. Skin Discoloration<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Skin <\/a>discoloration and bruising is a common symptom that might go together with a range of different health conditions. One of them is shin splits, and you’ll notice the most common discoloration and bruising taking place near the injury site; Skin discoloration isn’t uncommon, although it might also be one of the more serious symptoms that tell you there are possible circulation issues accompanying the injury.
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Skin discoloration can commonly signal issues with circulation and it can also sometimes means a lack of oxygen in the blood. See your doctor if you see any signs of skin discoloration that you aren’t used to or notice bruising, even if you don’t experience any of the other signs or symptoms that appear on this list together with it.
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Where skin discoloration or flushing of the skin isn’t because of a current injury, it can be because of something much worse. 
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12. Further Injuries as a Result<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you have contracted shin splits, then you might be at an increased risk of contracting further muscle-related injuries as a result of the first injury<\/a>. Because of the pain and discomfort that shin splints can cause, a lot of people are likely to overcompensate for it with other parts of the body \u2013 and then on top of this, they push themselves through a full exercise routine when their body really isn’t physically up to it.\u00a0
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If you suspect that you have shin splints, take it easy on the exercise until you’ve been able to see a professional and until you’re completely sure the injury is healed with the confirmation of your doctor. 
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Doing anything else means you’re putting yourself at risk of either further injuries or prolonging how long your current injury can take to heal.
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Experience pain, discomfort or any other symptom on this list? Stop exercising and speak to your medical professional.
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13. Seeming Clumsiness<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you seem clumsy where you were otherwise stable or you notice that you\u2019re tripping over your own feet far more often than you’re normally used to, it could be that you have an underlying injury that’s causing it. Start taking a closer look at your symptoms where you notice an increased level of clumsiness, accidents or falls several times in a row over a long period of time \u2013 and you might notice that you have been experiencing more symptoms than you might have wanted to admit to yourself before now. 
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It’s not always clumsiness<\/a>: Sometimes it’s an injury that’s causing the imbalance and throwing the rest of your body out of balance.\u00a0
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Usually, it’s possible to regain most of your stability back once you’ve sustained an injury like shin splits; speak to your doctor if you aren’t sure how to approach your recovery period for the best possible results.
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14. Increased Likelihood of Fracture or Break<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Shin splints<\/a> are exactly what they sound like, and they’re exactly as painful as one would imagine they are. It’s not just the kind of thing that you should try to ignore or treat at home as a symptom. It’s the kind of thing that you should see your doctor for the moment you notice that it’s happened \u2013 and doing anything else can only lead to more pain and an increased risk of further injury.
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If you have had undiagnosed or untreated shin splits for a while, it’s likely that you’ve also developed an increased likelihood to develop deeper fractures or breaks in the shins: This can happen due to the repeated stress that’s put on top of an existing injury that already can’t take the strain.
If you suspect that you might be on the way to fracturing or breaking something, see your doctor; if you suspect that you already might have done so, then you should visit the emergency room for your symptoms instead.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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