Shin splints, AKA medial stress syndrome, is categorised by a variable intensity of diffused pain on the inside of the lower leg/shin. Shin splints usually show themselves the night after exercising or the next morning - exercise usually decreases the pain of shin splints as you warm up.

Shin splints oftentimes can develop into a stress fracture. Stress fractures are localised, acute or sharp pain that gets worse as you exercise.

A physio will help you determine what the cause is of this stress reaction. Some common causes include:
- Overload: how much exercise/sport you are undertaking
- Change in exercise type/load
- Type of shoes
- Strength and control
- Muscle flexibility (ie. calf tightness)

If you are experiencing shin pain please reach out to a Physiotherapist to help you develop a plan to help you get back to exercise pain free.

☎️ 6352 3131
✉️ info@tablelandsphysio.com.au
ℹ️ www.tablelandsphysio.com.au

Kids who are involved with sport often experience knee pain related to the tracking of the knee cap and/or growing pain underneath the knee cap.

To help this:
- strengthen muscles of the inner quads
- stretch the hamstrings
- get the correct shoes (we often recommend ASICS)

Kids with heel pain? This is generally correlated with an increase in activity and/or growth spurts. Often the diagnosis of this is Sever’s Disease. This is a common cause of heel pain, particularly in young and physically active people. Between the ages of 8 and 14 years the leg bones experience a period of growth. This may lead to heel pain during or after physical activity.

So what can be done to help settle this pain?
- Relative rest; you don’t need to stop everything, but you want to reduce activity levels
- Ice
- Foam rolling/Calf stretches; be careful not to over-stretch though! Seek advice from a Physio if you have any concerns/questions in regards to this
- Supportive shoes

If these simple steps don’t help, it may be worthwhile to have a chat with one of our Physios here at Tablelands Physio for some professional advice (02) ‪6352 3131‬, or your local Physiotherapist.

Sore knee? Here is a really simple exercise to do early after you have hurt your knee. The main aim is to increase movement of the knee and activate the quad muscle, which is the protector of the knee. Roll up a towel and give it a go!