Shin Splints

SHIN SPLINTS ( Medial Tiblial Stress Syndrome. MTSS)

I have shin splints and have no idea what they are. So here it goes this is what I found,

First off what are shin splints?

Shin splints are the inflammation of the muscles, tendons, and bone tissue near the Tibia. Usually one feels the pain on the inner part of the shin bone, where the muscle attaches to the bone.

Shin Splints can be caused by many things. For one, they can be caused by having flat feet our not normal arches in your feet. Flat feet can increase stress on muscles in the lower leg during exercise.

Many gymnasts get shin splints from tumbling and vaulting!

This is caused by the amount of pressure/ stress put on the bones and muscles in the legs.

A gymnast's time spent tumbling and vaulting can be damaging. The landings and take - offs cause the Tibilalis Anterior to contract and relax at a very fast speed. Over working of this muscle can being to cause it to tear away from the tibia. It can be very painful, but not in all cases.

Not just gymnasts are affected by MTSS, many runners and other athletes are affected by the syndrome every day. 

Some times MTSS can allow the tibia to actually crack slightly, they are called minute cracks.

Shin splints can cause a person a lot of pain and discomfort which could result in them quitting their passion or worse getting seriously hurt because of the MTSS.

My shin splints have been so bad that I haven't been able to vault for days on end. But now that I have better shoes and orthotics my shin splints haven't really been a problem lately.