Tibialis anterior muscle syndrome / shin splints

[hockeydad3 50]

Hi folks,

has anyone of you ever had a "tibialis anterior muscle compartment syndrome"? It´s a very painful pulsating swelling of the tibialis anterior muscle(shin muscle) due to overload. It has almost the same location like shin splints and is more common in the runners world. If so, did you find a cause for it and got a solution?

After solving my painproblem in the footsole by changing to a stiffer better fitting skate, using a hockey-orthotic--custom-insole and adding a +2 forward pitch(seems to distribute my weight bettter over the whole foot) i´m running into the next fxxxxxx painproblem. My skatesetup is quite new and during the last icetimes my problem has been announced slowly, i was using diclofenac and magnesium but yesterday evening i had to leave the ice after 15 minutes after skating some crossover circles during practice. The Pain was so strong that I could bite into the bench. Today I have a strong aching in this muscle, more on the right leg which is my dominant side. I have cancelled practice for the next two days.

Any ideas? Thanks for your answers

Edited November 12, 2019 by hockeydad3

[hockeydad3 50]

After reading around in the web it seems that the tibialis anterior syndrome has the same cause like shin splints. A muscular overload of the muscle next to the outside of the shin.

Any advice or solutions?

[Leif 160]

I will preface this by warning that I am ignorant when it comes to medical issues, with no medical training. I write as someone who has suffered from runners knee for 15 years, and had a sedentary job all his life, the one thing I have learnt over the last year from using a personal trainer is that the body is far from simple, and that lack of exercise of muscle groups causes a lot of problems.

I suffered from mild leg cramps at night, so called restless leg syndrome, and taking hydration tablets in water during hockey sessions has largely cured it. I assume sweating caused a loss of salts, which affected the nerves in my legs. I also had some painful calf cramps which I suspect had the same cause. 

Secondly, I used to run cross country, which meant some muscles were being worked, and others not, causing an imbalance. Basically some muscles were very tight.  I now do daily stretching exercises to ensure that all muscles get some workout. An imbalance in muscles can cause issues, and I think runners knee might be one example, where muscular misalignment can damage the patella. Lots of knee exercises has resulted in a massive improvement although I suspect I have some cartilage damage. I also no longer get neck cramps, which I assume is due to exercises with a roller.

So my suggestion is to spend ten to fifteen minutes a day doing stretching exercises, working on muscles in your legs and core, as well as neck, back and arms. I doubt it can do any harm, and it will help you in general, and perhaps it will help your shin problems.

Edited November 12, 2019 by Leif

[BenBreeg 488]

ART could be an option.  Got me through shin splints for a 1/2 marathon.  Foam rolling, stretching as Leif suggested.

[caveman27 208]

1. You could see a physical therapist.

2. Try foam rolling. Get a stiff foam roller, it will be painful. Kneel on the foam roller starting right below your knee caps. Then, roll your shins over the roller until you get above your ankles, Roll back. Continue like 10 times.