Please enjoy a guest post on a topic near and dear to our heart from our friend, Dan Chabert: Writing from Copenhagen, Denmark, Dan is an entrepreneur, husband and ultramarathon distance runner. He spends most of his time on runnerclick.com, monicashealthmag.com, and gearweare.com and nicershoes.com. He has been featured on runner blogs all over the world.
Shin splints are a very common symptom amongst runners, especially beginners. This injury affects approximately 40% of beginner runners according to coach Jeff Gaudette. This injury is also known as medial tibial stress syndrome.
For a long time it was thought that shin splints were caused by small tears in the muscular tissue or inflammation of the muscles, causing intense pain. However, modern studies reveal that the shin splints are caused by flexing in the tibial bone. It’s very common for people to misdiagnose any tibial pain as shin splints– consider visiting a doctor to confirm the symptoms.