Shin Splints in Runners: Why This Common Overuse Injury Can Disrupt Training and Performance Shin splints affect runners globally at a concerning frequency, representing a painful, stubborn inflammation of the periosteum, tendons, and surrounding musculature along the tibia. Endurance athletes across the USA, UK, Europe, and Australia frequently experience this debilitating overuse injury, which presents as a dull, aching pain along either the inner or outer aspect of the shin bone during or immediately after a workout. Because the discomfort typically develops gradually through a training progression, runners initially dismiss the early warnings as normal training soreness, pushing through the miles until the symptoms become a constant, sharp impediment to…