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"What should I do for shin splints?" is among the most common questions runners, especially relatively new ones, ask. The most accurate answer might well be, "Your guess is as good as anyone's," according to a review of research on shin splint treatment published in the journal Sports Medicine.
Dutch researchers examined all the high-quality studies they could find on treatments for medial tibial stress syndrome, which is the sports medicine term for what most runners call shin splints. These were mostly studies in which one group of people with shin pain received a form of treatment, another group with shin pain didn't receive that treatment, and injury-recovery rates between the two groups were compared. In other studies, one group got one form of treatment while another group got a different treatment.
Among the treatments studied were leg braces, ice massage, ultrasound, extracorporeal shockwave therapy, and iontophoresis (which involves passing an electric current onto the skin).
The executive summary of the research review?
"No intervention has been proven to be effective for [medial tibial stress syndrome]," the Dutch researchers concluded.
There are a few important points to keep in mind. As the researchers note, one of the main limitations of studies on injury treatment is that it's nearly impossible to design a study that meets the scientific gold standard of double-blind research, in which neither the subjects nor the people conducting the study know what treatment subjects are receiving. After all, if you're wearing a leg brace to treat shin splints, you know it.
Second, saying that no treatment has been proven to be effective isn't the same as saying nothing works. It's likely the case that a treatment that seems to help one person might not help another, and that the second person might get relief from a different treatment, while that treatment might not work for the first person.
Third, any injury-treatment study has another built-in barrier to certainty: Who can say how quickly a given injury would have resolved on its own?
For their part, the Dutch researchers offered this general counsel on treating shin splints:
"As [medial tibial stress syndrome] is most likely a bony overload injury, rehabilitation programs that focus on bone recovery seem most appropriate. One might consider several days of non-weight bearing after which weight bearing is gradually increased until full function level has been achieved."
Prevention is always the way to go with running injuries, but especially with shin splints, this analysis suggests. The video below describes how to keep shin splints at bay.
Scott is a veteran running, fitness, and health journalist who has held senior editorial positions at Runner’s World and Running Times. Much of his writing translates sport science research and elite best practices into practical guidance for everyday athletes. He is the author or coauthor of several running books, including Running Is My Therapy, Advanced Marathoning, and Meb for Mortals. Scott has also written about running for Slate, The Atlantic, the Washington Post, and other members of the sedentary media. His lifetime running odometer is past 110,000 miles, but he’s as much in love as ever.
