Are shin splints a type of stress fracture?
Dr. Schmidt: Most shin splints are not stress fractures, but this is something that the recreational athlete needs to pay attention to. If there is persistent pain, pain that doesn’t go away through the efforts we talked about, then you need to be a little concerned. The other thing I tell patients to do is cross their legs in a figure-four position. The doctor palpates or feels the tibia on the place where the bone is right under the skin, and if there is a lot of tenderness there — not along the back edge — then you need to be concerned. Shin splints are usually in the back where the muscle is near the edge of the bone. The tibia is a triangular-shaped bone. The peak or crest of the tibia is in the front of the leg and the back edge of the triangle is where you feel shin splints. But if you feel subcutaneous tenderness right under the skin, on the front of the tibia, then you should think about the possibility of a stress fracture. You should probably get an X-ray, albeit with the
