Shin Splint Symptoms

As with every type of Tendonitis, Shin Splints have their own set of Shin Splint Symptoms.

If you're read the pages about Tendonitis and Inflammation you can probably guess what the shin splint symptoms are.

If you have shin splints, you could probably list the following items before you actually read them.

Do these Symptoms sound familiar?

Shin Splint Symptoms:

As you move and contract your shin muscles, your nervous system reads

1. Pain enhancing chemicals released by Inflammation.

2. Too much fluid in the area, trapped by Inflammation.

3. Muscles that are WAY too tight.

This equals the sensation of pain.

* Painful to the touch.

As you touch your tissue your nervous system reads

1. Pain enhancing chemicals released by Inflammation.

2. Too much fluid in the area, trapped by Inflammation.

3. Muscles that are WAY too tight.

This equals the sensation of pain.

* Swollen, tight tissue on and around the shin.

Inflammation has trapped fluid in the area, what we call 'swelling'. Think of your shin as a balloon getting overfilled with fluid.

If you have severe shin splints or have taken a hit/blow to the shin, you can get Anterior Compartment Syndrome.

This is when your balloon keeps filling and literally can't let any fluid out. This can be a serious problem, and surgery is the common and necessary for ACUTE compartment syndrome.

It literally 'pops the balloon' to release the build up of pressure in the connective tissue layers of your shin.

* The pain lessens as the day goes on and you 'warm up'.

When you get out of bed in the morning, you are metabolically 'cold. Which is a technical way of saying that you and your tissue aren't 'warmed up' yet.

I like to think about it like this.

When you jump out of bed in the morning, you are a dry, crunchy sponge.

As you move around and warm up, you become more like a wet, squishy sponge.

This is a vital concept for people suffering from Plantar Fasciitis.

But you're suffering from Shin Splint Symptoms.

Imagine you're sitting around in front of the tv or at work, and you get up and start walking around, or maybe go for a jog and start to increase the use of your shin structure.

So it's kind of dry and crunchy, and you go jumping up and down on it.

CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH

The body does not like that, and with everything else it has going on with the shin splints, you will feel pain.

As you move around on it more, it gets more circulation, more blood and nutrition going to it.

Your Shin Structure warms up, becomes more and more like a wet, squishy sponge.

This gets Pain Enhancing Chemical out, old fluid out, and gets new oxygen to the muscles. The nervous system likes all this, and will have less pain triggers to report to you as the sensation of pain.

That is why pain goes away as you move around.

But as you likely know, it can quickly go the OTHER direction.

* The pain increases drastically and immediately if you try to run 'through the pain'.

So, if you're just sitting around in front of the tv, or at work, and all of a sudden you start jogging or running, your shin structure is not 'warmed up'.

Instantly your too tight muscles contract over and over, constrained and compressed by all the extra fluid trapped in the area.

Your nervous system gets a flood of information as it notices all the Pain Enhancing Chemical floating around, all the irritant, all the tightness, all the uncontrolled motion and potential damage that can happen to you, it's body and....

....your nervous system FREAKS OUT!

Notice how you start running and all of a sudden you have severe, sharp pain that stops you from jogging/running?

That's not damage, that's the nervous system freaking out and STOPPING you so that you don't damage yourself even more.

The nervous system is just doing it's best to protect you. Don't be mad at it, it's just doing it's job to the best of it's ability.

You just have to know how to work with your nervous system's protective mechanism, and then you can quickly heal from most any injury and continue to perform activity as you like to.

* Experience little to no pain when just sitting around and staying off the leg.

When you aren't moving, or are performing easy movement, the nervous system doesn't really pick up any of the pain enhancing chemical, so it, and you, don't 'feel' pain.

The structure is exactly the same whether you are moving or not, it's just a matter of Pain Enhancing Chemical, Inflammation, Tightness, and the nervous system watching over you to keep you safe.

* Shin Splint Symptoms can also include:

shooting pain

constant ache

pulsating pain (correlating to your heart beat)

and tingling and/or itchiness.

Do You Have Shin Splint Symptoms?

If you do, then you're probably interested in an effective Shin Splint Treatment.

If you don't have Shin Splints, or you just have the beginnings of shin splint symptoms, you will need to decide which page is better for you, the Shin Splint Treatment page, and/or the Prevent Shin Splints page.

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