What Causes Shinbone Pain and How to Relieve It?

by Abbas Jahangir · June 22, 2024

Shin bone is the colloquial name for the bone called tibia, located in the front part of the lower leg. Pain along this bone, which extends from the knee to the ankle, is defined as shin pain. Many reasons, such as running and foot sports, using the legs intensively, and receiving a blow to the leg, can cause pain on the shin bone. In some cases, health problems related to muscles and soft tissues can also cause pain in the shin area. For tibia pain that occurs after a certain exercise and lasts longer than a week or occurs for no reason, it is useful to consult a health institution and undergo examination.

What is Shingle Pain?

Pain on the shin bone, starting from the ankle and reaching to the knee joint, is called shin pain. These pains are mostly caused by any reason that creates a load or impact on the shin bone, such as sedentary life, running, intense training performed by athletes, and jumping sports.

Shin bone pain, known by different names such as runner’s foot or tibial stress, is a common health problem in athletes due to such activities. Damage to the bone for any reason may cause temporary pain until it repairs itself with rest. However, if conditions such as cracks, fractures or inflammation in the bone are detected, treatment and intervention are required. If pain caused by any problem in the shin bone is not treated and bone-stressing activities are continued, permanent bone damage may occur.

For this reason, if pain persists for a long time and there is no improvement with rest, a physician should be consulted. Shin bone pain may be observed from time to time, especially in people who are involved in sports such as basketball, football, volleyball and athletics that involve sudden movements, blows to the bone, jumping and sudden stops.

Apart from pain due to physical activity, different health problems such as injuries and traumas, bone and joint diseases, fractures and cracks, osteomyelitis (bone inflammation) and Paget’s disease can also cause pain in the shin bones.

Causes of Shinbone Pain

The question of why shin bone hurts is one of the questions that almost all people who experience this problem seek answers to. The most common cause of shin pain is the pressure and load on the muscles and bones in the lower leg. In individuals with a sedentary lifestyle, leg muscles are weak and leg bones do not have sufficient flexibility.

For this reason, shin bone pain may occur due to reasons such as a simple sudden jump, running fast for a while or carrying a load, going up and down stairs, or starting exercise. Athletes who exercise constantly may experience pain after intense training and competitions. Apart from these, causes of shin bone pain include:

Intense physical activities during military service
Exercises such as running and walking on sloped and hilly terrains
flat feet problem
Suddenly starting intense exercise or suddenly increasing exercise intensity excessively
Alcohol and cigarette use
Calcium and vitamin D deficiency
Use of unhealthy shoes
Doing sports activities on unsuitable ground or barefoot
Some pains that may occur independently of trauma or exercise processes or are triggered by these processes may also indicate benign or malignant tumors in and around the tibia.

Shinbone Pain Symptoms

Although shin bone pain varies depending on the cause, it can also bring with it a number of different symptoms in addition to the pain in the bone. Severe pain, such as a blow to the shinbone, a fall, or an accident, requires radiological imaging and treatment. If the pain continues during rest, swelling, redness, bruising or increased temperature in the lower leg, this means that cracks or fractures may occur. Therefore, in case of such symptoms, emergency services should be consulted immediately. Apart from this, some symptoms accompanying shin bone pain can be listed as follows:

Muscle pain in legs
Pain in the front part of the lower leg
Pain that begins or worsens during intense exercise
Tenderness on the inner and outer parts of the lower legs
Swelling and numbness in the lower leg
Weakness

Simple shin pain accompanied by bruises on the skin of the lower leg and bruises that cause pain when touched may not require any treatment. However, if the bruises do not start to decrease within a few days, a medical check-up should be performed.

Swelling that may be accompanied by pain, noticing palpable swelling that was not there before but noticed later, pain at rest, and pain that cannot be controlled with painkillers definitely require a physician’s opinion.

How to Relieve Shinbone Pain?

People who experience shin pain while walking, doing sports or running should take this symptom seriously and get checked by a doctor. For shin bone aching or pain, you can go to the orthopedics and traumatology outpatient clinics of hospitals for a health check-up.

During this examination, the physician performs a physical examination on the lower leg, and then a radiological imaging such as an x-ray is usually requested. In this way, it can be understood whether there is a problem such as injury, crack and/or fracture in the bone, or any tumoral condition in the bone. If any health problems are detected in the bones, muscles or soft tissues, treatment should be applied for them.

During the treatment process, the leg may need to be splinted or cast for a while, and the patient may need to use crutches for a while. Conservative practices such as bed rest, rest at home or medication may be recommended. Some conditions may not go away with conservative treatment solutions. Such situations may require surgical solutions. For example, surgical operations may be used in cases of crack, fracture or trauma-related damage, bone and soft tissue masses, tibial stress and excessive increased muscle compartment pressure in the leg, such as runner’s leg.

In some cases, lower leg pain due to different reasons such as nerve damage caused by peripheral neuropathy or soft tissue infections caused by reasons such as diabetes may feel like shin pain. In such cases, after the problem is fully identified, the patient is directed to the relevant medical unit and the treatment procedure is determined. If no surgical operation or inpatient treatment is required, the patient can go home after being informed about the issues to be taken into consideration during the rest period at home, following the examination and controls to be performed by the physician.

It is expected that the pain will decrease and heal over time with the use of medications prescribed by the physician and rest for the treatment of shin bone pain.

What is good for shin bone pain?

In case of shin bone pain that develops after intense exercises, intense and tiring physical activities that are not normally performed, or training, it can be monitored whether the pain decreases for a few days with the help of some measures that can be taken at home. Just in case, it is useful to get a medical check-up and get an opinion.

If the bone is not damaged, the pain usually decreases within a few days with rest and disappears within a week or two at the latest. For recovery, training should be stopped, rest for a while and movements that would put pressure on the lower leg should be avoided. If it does not aggravate the pain, activities that will not put a significant load on the shin bone, such as swimming, can be continued.

If shin pain occurs while walking, it is beneficial to avoid walking for a while. Some home practices that may answer the question of how to relieve shin pain during the rest period include:

Resting the legs by stretching them to a high place
If there are swellings, apply ice compress on them.
If there are painkillers prescribed by the doctor, use them
Gently massaging the lower leg by moving a flat cylindrical object over the bone

Healing and relieving pain in the shin bone can be supported with such practices that can be done at home. However, if no improvement is felt despite these applications, you should consult a doctor again. If shin pain disappears, professional athletes must undergo examination and obtain physician approval before starting to exercise again. Otherwise, more serious health problems may arise if you return to sports before the problem causing the pain is fully healed. If shin bone pain starts again while doing sports, you should consult a physician again.

If you are experiencing pain in your shin bone, it would be beneficial for you to consult a doctor, undergo an examination, and have tests done to find out the cause of the pain. If any muscle, bone or nerve-related problem is detected, you can get rid of your pain and regain your health by starting your treatment process.