Many runners, either new to the sport or stepping up to longer distances will experience aches and pains in their legs.

Pain is the body’s way of letting you know that something is wrong. Listen to your body and if needs be, act on it!

Any type of training can cause aches and pains in the muscles. The term Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is a normal response as damaged muscle fibres repair themselves after training. Typically this can leave muscles feeling tender one or two days following a training session. Depending on how tough the training session was, the pain generally eases within a few days.

An injury is typically an ache or pain that does not go away and causes you to either reduce your training or stop altogether. One of the most common injuries we address in the clinic is Medial Tibial Stress syndrome (MTSS).

Below is a general overview of the injury:

Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome

What is it?   

Shin splints is the term used to describe a group of lower leg injuries.  One specific type of shin pain is medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS) and is one of the most common causes of exercise related lower leg pain. 

The pain of MTSS commonly occurs along the inside of the lower half of the shin bone (the tibia). Long term repetitive sports activities cause excessive stress and strain around the location where the sheath covering the posterior tibialis muscle attaches to the shin bone.

Who does it affect?

As well as athletes, the injury can occur in any physically active persons. On the whole it is usually seen in runners. The injury rate tends to be higher in females. 

Other sports in which athletes are most commonly affected usually involve running and jumping i.e. gymnastics, long jumping, basketball and volleyball.   

What are the common symptoms?

The most common symptom is pain and tenderness along the inside of the lower half of the shin. 

Pain occurs at the beginning of a run but may ease off after a while only to recur at the end of the run.

The pain is made worse by repetitive weight bearing activities. 

Some swelling may be felt along the shin.

What should I do if I have medial tibial stress syndrome? 

If you experience any of the symptoms mentioned above:

See a Sports Podiatrist as soon as possible. They will be able to assess and diagnose the problem and advise on the best course of treatment. 

If treated early, you can avoid any long term problems and damage and return to training sooner. 

An accurate diagnosis from a health professional is essential as this is also a common location of stress fractures of the tibia.

Alter your training to active rest as much as possible, avoiding high impact activities. You can maintain a level of fitness with low impact activities such as cycling and swimming. 

Treat the area with ice on a regular basis.

How can it be prevented?

Make sure you are wearing the right footwear for you feet and your sport, a Sports Podiatrist can help with advice.

Regular, correct calf stretching can help. Tight calf muscles may contribute to the development of MTSS. Tightness or shortness in these muscles can reduce ankle joint movement, affect foot function and can reduce shock absorption when the foot strikes the ground.

Mix up the surfaces you train on, softer, off road surfaces will reduce some of the repetitive impact of running.

Make sure any increase in mileage or intensity is gradual – allow your body to adapt to what you are asking it to do.

What can a Sports Podiatrist do?

A common factor found in MTSS is flat or low arched feet. A Sports Podiatrist can assess the alignment of your foot and leg when standing, walking and running, and determine whether the injury is due to faulty foot and/or lower limb biomechanics: In which case you may be advised on the benefits of wearing foot orthotics in your shoes. 

Orthotics can improve the position, function and efficiency of the foot, which may help to reduce the stress and pain along the shin caused by MTSS. 

A Sports Podiatrist can also advise on an appropriate sports shoe and a muscle stretching programme to address any muscle imbalances or tightness you may have.

Contact our running injury clinic for an appointment by telephoning 01827 59943

This is a crucial time in the marathon runners training programme and as such any running injury will set you back at an important time.  More importantly if you have raised money and have sponsors for a charity place then you need to complete the race in order to collect the sponsorship money for your chosen charity.

Running injuries are common with high mileage training and can be minor to severe in nature.  Most importantly you should get niggles checked early before it develops into something more serious.  Early intervention might make the difference between success and failure to the marathon runner.

Common running injuries include hip pain, achilles tendonitis, shinsplints, knee pain, blisters, plantar fasciitis and calf strains.  Tight IT bands, runners knee and tendonitis can all cause problems and stop you running if not treated early.

Information on running injuries can be found on the website www.runninginjuryclinic.co.uk  and the Solihull Sports Injury Clinic in Solihull Birmingham have a dedicated running injury team of sports physiotherapists,sports therapists and sports massage therapists.

Sports massage helps you recover quicker from long training runs and is an opportunity to uncover potential injuries during the massage.  Stretching is very important as is often overlooked by runners.

Prescription orthotic foot insoles and biomechanical evaluations are available for runners that overpronate and suffer overpronation symptoms.  The sports podiatrist will evaluate your gait and biomechanics and supply you with an orthotic device to correct your overpronation problem.

Birmingham runners can visit Atlas Sports Injury Clinic for sports massage, physiotherapy and sports injury treatment.  Telephone 0121 745 8792

Atlas will keep you running!

Runners World UK website now has the Atlas Running Injury Clinic from Solihull Birmingham listed under the Runners Rescue heading.

Atlas have recently launched a new website of their own www.londonmarathon-runninginjuryclinics.co.uk in support of the Virgin London Marathon runners.

Runners who have London Marathon Charity Places, running for charities or are running to complete a personal challenge can all access the website for free and take advantage of marathon training tips and advice as well as obtaining marathon training programmes.

The website aims to provide local sports injury clinics with the opportunity to register on the website for free and assist the Marathon runners with their running training injuries.  Clinics that offer prescription orthotics for runners can also register.

Atlas treat runners from all over the UK and runners from the Lichfield area who run the Lichfield 10k race are local to the Tamworth, Staffordshire Clinic. The Birmingham half marathon is a local run that is supported by the Solihull Birmingham Clinic.

Visit our running injury website www.runninginjuryclinic.co.uk