Shin Splints Back In 1415!

R shin(top) shows obvious wear

I had a runner who came to see me this week. She had recently done a marathon in Australia and recently got back to training again after a break. She said she had been asking a fellow runner with shin pain to come see me. This friend of hers had been suffering from shin splints for the past six months!

Just in case you thought that was long. I saw an article that showed a case of documented shin splints from way back in the year 1415. Yes, you read correctly, it's 1415.

Researchers found a skeleton from a graveyard in Greece that showed medial tibial stress syndrome (or shin splints). They estimated that the man died between 500-800 years ago and was between 20-30 years old.

The researchers mentioned that shin splints are commonly thought to be an exercised induced injury. and that shin splints are most common in new runners.

Osteoarthritis in the ankle

The skeleton also showed signs of osteoarthritis in the ankle joint (which is rare); this suggest that the man probably engaged in some repetitive loading of his lower limbs. An indication that perhaps even in those days they participated in running as well.


Reference

Protopapa AS, Vladchadis N et al (2014). Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome: A Skeleton From Medieval Rhodes Demonstrates The Appearance Of The Bone Surface- A Case Report. Acta Ortho 85(5): 543-544. DOI: 10.3109/1753674.2014.942587.