Firstly, ‘shin splints’ is a really bad name and probably should not be used. ‘Shin splints’ simply means ‘sore legs’ and I am sure it can be appreciated that there could be literally, 100’s of different causes of sore legs.
However, when runners and clinicians talk about ‘shin splints’, they are most likely and most commonly referring to medial tibial stress syndrome.
The pain is typical present and can be quite painful to palpation down the medial side of the tibia bone, especially if you try and poke the fingers behind the bone. This can initially be painful to the touch, but not actually be painful when running. After a while the pain is present when running. The pain will start as a dull ache and progressively get worse if something is not done to alleviate or treat the symptoms.
