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Shin pain stopping your runs?
Keep training while it settles, with a plan to build back up
Shin pain and shin splints
Shin splints (medial tibial stress syndrome) usually means exercise-related pain along the inner edge of the shin. A bone stress injury can feel similar but is more serious, so pain in one spot, at rest or at night needs checking. Cutting back training, rather than stopping everything, is often recommended, with a staged return.
How we can help at Burwood Podiatry
Most shin pain settles with a plan that cuts back how much you do rather than stopping everything, so you can keep training while it settles.
- A clear check: a diffuse ache along the shin, or one sharp spot that needs checking for a stress injury
- A look at what changed: training, shoes, surface and calf strength
- A staged return-to-running plan with strength work: strength and rehab
- Footwear advice, and insoles only if they'd help
- A referral for imaging if a bone stress injury is suspected
What you can do at home
- Cut back the running or jumping that brings it on; cycle or swim to stay fit
- Ice for 15 to 20 minutes after activity if it's sore, wrapped in a cloth
- Gentle calf stretches and strengthening
- Supportive, shock-absorbing shoes; build back up gradually
- Check your running or sports shoes still fit and suit the activity: choosing shoes
When to get it checked
- Pain in one spot on the bone, or pain at rest or at night
- Pain that's getting worse, or makes you limp
- Shin pain that hasn't eased after 2 weeks of cutting back
- Sudden severe leg tightness with numbness or weakness: emergency care
Sudden severe leg tightness with numbness or weakness is an emergency. Emergency, or a foot that suddenly turns cold, pale or blue? Call 000.
Shin pain questions
Should shin pain stop me running?
Usually you can keep training with changes: cut back distance, speed or jumping rather than stopping everything. Stop and get checked if the pain is in one spot on the bone, getting worse, or there at rest or at night, as that can be a bone stress injury.
Are shin splints the same as a stress fracture?
No. They can feel alike, but a stress injury is a different and potentially more serious problem.
Should I stop running with shin pain?
Stop if the pain is in one spot, getting worse, or there at rest or at night; that needs checking for a stress injury. Otherwise cut back rather than stop.
How long do shin splints take to heal?
It varies with how long it has been sore and how much running or sport you're returning to. After assessment we give you an expected timeframe and a staged plan. Strength and rehab
Where to next
Sources
Reviewed by Burwood Podiatry · November 2026