Shins

Sprint to catch a train. Leap to the deck of a boat. Powerwalk through the park. None of these steps are drastic--but all of them put pressure on the second-biggest bone in the body.

The tibia, the kick plate that fronts the lower leg, is almost always called by its nickname--the shinbone.

Most of us don''''t pay much attention to the shin until we happen to whack it against something. Despite its easy bruise-ability, the shin wasn''''t intended to play the role of bumper car.

"The function of the tibia is really propulsion," says Gary M. Gordon, D.P.M., director of the running and walking clinic at the Joseph Torg Center for Sports Medicine at Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia. The tibia absorbs all the weight of the body from the thighbone, passing the burden on to the ankle and, finally, the foot.

Splints Prevention

As weight-bearing responsibility is passed down the line, some of the tension is picked up by the bridges of muscles, tendons and ligaments that connect the shinbone to other parts of the leg and foot. Sometimes, when the shin just won''''t take it anymore, we wind up with a condition called shinsplints.

"Shinsplints is a catch-all term for pain in the front of the lower leg," says William Case, P.T., physical therapist and president of Case Physical Therapy in Houston. The term covers most causes of shin pain: an inflamed tendon, an inflamed muscle or a stress fracture.

Most often shinsplints mean a case of tendinitis, an inflammation of the tough fibers that connect the muscles in the lower leg to the shinbone. The inflammation occurs because we''''ve overused the tendons in the shin. That could happen if we run too many miles, for instance, or if we wear worn-out athletic shoes. Here''''s how you can avoid getting shinsplints in the first place--or slow the pain before it gets worse.

Wear a springy shoe. "The main thing that prevents painful shins is shoes that are in tip-top shape," says Dr. Gordon. "When your shoes lose their shock-absorbing power, your muscles, tendons and bones absorb that shock. You want your shoes to take the pounding away from your body."

If you run more than 25 miles a week or take three or more aerobics classes each week, Dr. Gordon recommends replacing your shoes every two to three months. A more moderate exerciser can get four to six months out of a pair. If your shins start hurting during a workout, Case says one reason may be that you need a new pair of athletic shoes.

Change your routines. Sometimes our aching shins remind us that we need to change more than just our worn-out pair of sneaks. If twinges of shin pain are sneaking up on you, Case strongly recommends taking a second look at your exercise routine. Pounding the pavement six days in a row or sweating through the highest level of your workout tape day after day can beat up more than just your footwear.

If your shins protest during or after your workout, chances are you''''re overdoing it. Try switching your workouts to alternate days of the week, lowering your overall workout time, or toning down the volume of your exercise routines, suggests Case.

Always warm up. Tendons need warm-ups even more than muscles. Before you go out for a run or any kind of workout, Case recommends that you do at least five to ten minutes of warming up and stretching to prevent tendinitis. Walking and riding a stationary bike are two good ways to warm up your shins.

Helping the Pain Wane

Sore shins can sneak up on the avid athletes among us. They also come to almost any dress shoe­shod woman who walks around the mean streets of the big metropolis all day. Here''''s how to soothe them.

Do the Dixie. Fill a half-dozen or so Dixie cups or Styrofoam cups with water and keep them in your freezer for bad shin days. When pain hits, grab one of those chilled Dixies as soon as possible. Peel off the cup''''s rim and rub the ice up and down your shin for five to ten minutes to numb the ache and control the inflammation. As the ice melts, peel away more of the rim.

Call for help. If your shin pain doesn''''t feel better after six or eight weeks, cease and desist the activity that could be causing the pain. The reason: You may have a stress fracture of the tibia, not tendinitis. See your doctor, who will probably schedule an x-ray or bone scan to diagnose a fracture.

See also Skeletal System