The agony of shin splints

Paradoxically, shin splints can be caused by doing too much exercise. I don't mean rowing on an exercise machine or doing press-ups or sit-ups but, by walking great distances and even playing football. In the early 1970s, I was hit with this cursed problem and it took a good six months, if not longer, to shake my shin splints off. And the cause? My GP at the time said it was because I was taking too much exercise. Not only was I training and playing football whenever I could but I was walking a great deal. And, believe me, if you ever experience shin splints you will wish that you had never heard of them.

So, what exactly are shin splints? Broadly speaking, it's where the tissue in your lower legs becomes inflamed and then the shins become very tight and both legs are usually affected. I was having to walk through my pain every day as I walked to the railway station and back to go to work in London and return home again in the evenings. More scientifically speaking, shin splints (also known as medial tibial stress syndrome) occur when an increase in leg exercise causes stress to the shinbone and surrounding tissue, which in turn leads to an inflamed periosteum - the tissue that covers the tibia bone. It starts as a mild pain but soon escalates to something more debilitating.

Both men and women can get shin splints, with women being more vulnerable than men, probably even more so nowadays with so many women taking up playing football. The problem can occur at any age although it is more common in the teenage years. That seems to follow my pattern as I was around 17 years old when I suffered with shin splints.

My doctor told me to rest for long periods with my feet up. Do you know how difficult that can be when you work in a busy office in the City where a lot of the time you are on your feet? Failing to take my GP's advice to rest was probably the reason why it took so long for my shin splints to resolve themselves.

Yes, I took painkillers, both prescribed and over-the-counter. They would relieve my symptoms for a while but then the pain in my legs would come back the moment I started to walk anywhere. What made matters worse was the fact that, at that time, I was 'between cars' and had to rely on public transport or walk everywhere. Money being tight at the time for a junior worker in London, walking was really my only option, as I saw it. Looking back, perhaps a sixpenny bus ride could have saved me some pain and the blue language that went with it.

Eventually I had to stop my midweek training sessions with the football club I was playing for at the time, which meant I had to stop playing football, at least until my shins recovered. The condition was causing me much pain that sport, coupled with exercise, was gradually dropping down on my list of priorities. Lighter exercises, like swimming or cycling, in moderation could have helped in their own small way but I can't swim and I didn't have a pushbike.

In my older age, I have different walking difficulties, but they do not compare to the stretched-like pain I went through with shin splints in my youth.

Trevor Mulligan