Pain down the outside of my shins = shin splints?

joe123

Im going to a physio in a few days so im not looking for medical advice or anything, but I play soccer and the pitches have been pretty hard the last few weeks, but one day after a match I woke up to a wierd sort of strain on both legs in pretty much the same spot each side.

Its just below the knee maybe 6 inches down from it on the outside of both legs. It feels like the shin. Ever since then (about two weeks) ive been getting a burning sort of pain in both legs after about 5 minutes into training and at times pins and needles.

When I point my foot down so my toe to knee is a straight line I can feel the twinge and its pretty much in the exact same spot in both legs. I cant tell wether its the muscle or the shin but once the burning feeling starts during training its a struggle to play as they feel like ton weight blocks.

Anyone experience this sort of thing before? Physio isnt till a few days so its just bugging me at the moment and am curious as to what it could be! Is it shin splints?

Dublin_Gunner

Certainly sounds like shin splints. I'm prone to getting them the odd time too.

Pretty painful, but it goes. I'm not even sure what causes it really, probably the muscle running alongside your shin bone being strained.

TommyKnocker

joe123 wrote: »

Im going to a physio in a few days so im not looking for medical advice or anything, but I play soccer and the pitches have been pretty hard the last few weeks, but one day after a match I woke up to a wierd sort of strain on both legs in pretty much the same spot each side.

Its just below the knee maybe 6 inches down from it on the outside of both legs. It feels like the shin. Ever since then (about two weeks) ive been getting a burning sort of pain in both legs after about 5 minutes into training and at times pins and needles.

When I point my foot down so my toe to knee is a straight line I can feel the twinge and its pretty much in the exact same spot in both legs. I cant tell wether its the muscle or the shin but once the burning feeling starts during training its a struggle to play as they feel like ton weight blocks.

Anyone experience this sort of thing before? Physio isnt till a few days so its just bugging me at the moment and am curious as to what it could be! Is it shin splints?

This could be a number of things. Shin splints is often a catch all term for shin pain.

The best advice I can give you is to stop training until you get this diagnosed and treated. Also you would be better to wait and see what you physio has to say then rather than seeking diagnosis from armchair doctors on a public internet forum.

Also I can't believe you could not get an appointment with a physio quicker then two weeks. I can usually get an appointment with my physio within a day or two, and in an emergency can be seen the same day I call.


Best Regards,

M

Dublin_Gunner

B-Builder wrote: »

This could be a number of things. Shin splints is often a catch all term for shin pain.

The best advice I can give you is to stop training until you get this diagnosed and treated. Also you would be better to wait and see what you physio has to say then rather than seeking diagnosis from armchair doctors on a public internet forum.

Also I can't believe you could not get an appointment with a physio quicker then two weeks. I can usually get an appointment with my physio within a day or two, and in an emergency can be seen the same day I call.


Best Regards,

M

As the OP said, he's not looking for diagnosis, just seeing what others think it may be, as the OP already has an appointment booked.

Also, the OP never said it took 2 weeks to get an appointment, but its been 2 weeks since the pain first surfaced.


OP - the hard pitches have been really tough to play on lately. I did my ankle in, tearing ligaments 2 weeks ago, and stil very painful. Thankfully season is over and I can give it the rest it needs!

Best of luck with the physio, and post back what injury (if any) you've suffered.

With any bit of luck its just a minor strain.

TommyKnocker

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

As the OP said, he's not looking for diagnosis, just seeing what others think it may be, as the OP already has an appointment booked.

OP said he was not looking for a diagnosis, then asks if anybody would have any idea what it could be. Ergo seeking a diagnosis

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

Also, the OP never said it took 2 weeks to get an appointment, but its been 2 weeks since the pain first surfaced.

Injury happened two weeks ago and OP hasn't been seen by Physio yet, and still has a couple of days to wait. So either the OP waited to see if the injury would clear up, but continued to train on it, thus hindering any healing OR it has taken two weeks to get a physio appointment.

Given the level of pain the the OP outlined in his post, IMHO he should have either contacted the physio sooner or insited on a earlier appointment.

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

OP - the hard pitches have been really tough to play on lately. I did my ankle in, tearing ligaments 2 weeks ago, and stil very painful. Thankfully season is over and I can give it the rest it needs!

Best of luck with the physio, and post back what injury (if any) you've suffered.

With any bit of luck its just a minor strain.

Agree, Best of luck with the physio and hopefully it nothing too serious. I have no experience of football, but know that running on hard ground can cause a lot of shin issues, some more serious than others (e.g. stress fractures) all of which often get lumped into a general "Shin Splint" diagnosis.


Best Regards,

M

joe123

The pain started two weeks ago...I only rang the physio today! I waited to see if it would clear itself up. Even trained on it again tonight but after about 5 minutes in the burning pain down the shin and calfs started again.

As dublin gunner said I didnt post here looking for a diagnosis as such just more of a "oh yeah I had that sort of thing" before. Just curious as to what could be the cause!

Cheers for the replies. Have to go to the doctor for an eye test for my drivers license tomorrow so im going to ask him then aswell to see what he makes of it.

Yapamillias

Sounds like medial compartment syndrome, I treated my uncle for the same symptoms as you joe. He was a road runner and was just getting serious into training. Hard surfaces will aggravate the pain. Stay off your feet and avoid movements involving toes drawn to the floor. Until you see your physio (who can actually perform movement stress tests) no more soccer for you im afraid.

Dublin_Gunner

Defo get it checked though, and don't train / exercise on it until you do.

At the start of this season, I got injured in a fairly bad tackle (was a pre-season 'friendly'), went back on for a bit, but then came off. Severe pain just below my knee. It seemed ok, so started the next friendly the following Wednesday.

Lasted about 10 minutes and had to come off.

Turned out I had a non-displaced fracture at the top of my tibia