Blog Archives
Bio Anatomy: Shin Splints
Tibialis Anterior and/or Tibialis Posterior tendonitis or “shin splints” generally refers to pain anywhere along the shinbone (tibia) between the knee and the ankle. It occurs as an overuse injury with damage and inflammation of the tendons and muscles that run up the shin. Shin splints are commonly seen in runners and athletes.
Signs and symptoms may include pain along the front inside edge of your shin. You may also have pain on the inner back side of your leg. The area may be tender to the touch and in some cases can become red and swollen. You may be able to reproduce the pain of shin splints by pointing your foot and toes down, but it is mostly aggravated by activity and exercise. Your doctor may consider an x-ray to rule out stress fractures and other conditions.
One cause of shin splints is overuse of the involved muscles. This can happen with an increase in exercise levels, repetitive movements as in running and other stresses to the lower leg such as hard or changing running surfaces.
Another major (and often overlooked) contributor to shin splints is over-pronation or arch flattening from
5 Ways To Prevent Sports Injuries
by Paul Ingraham
Weekend warriors and a lot of amateur athletes tend to believe that injury prevention is pretty much all about having a stretching regimen, and they are usually feeling guilty about not doing it enough. If I had a buck for every time I’ve heard someone say, just before a game of ultimate, “I should really do some stretching” … well, heck, I could afford to play ultimate for a living.
Lucky for them, they aren’t really missing anything important. As established elsewhere, stretching doesn’t really work (see Quite a Stretch) for the things people think it does, and it is particularly useless at preventing injury. Here are five ways to prevent injury that are a much better use of your time … Read the rest of this entry
