Diagnosis of Shin Splints
If your pain is located on your shins, the diagnosis follows almost the same steps as those mentioned above. Your doctor will also evaluate your medical history and ask many questions about what you felt when these symptoms started. It is also important to describe them as precisely as possible. To achieve this level of precision, we included many descriptions in a previous article so you can identify additional symptoms besides pain that will help your doctor reach an accurate diagnosis.
After the medical history, your doctor will perform a physical exam that features inspection, examination, and a variety of maneuvers. They may also perform diagnostic tests such as imaging studies and lab tests. However, instead of repeating ourselves in this regard, we will describe below the diagnostic process based on different causes of lower leg pain.
Stress Fracture
Doctors will probably consider a stress fracture if your shin splints are not recovering after you underwent treatment. Stress fracture features small cracks in your bone due to repetitive movements or overuse.
This diagnosis is usually made after ruling out others; you may need imaging tests for confirmation. The ideal imaging test in such cases is a bone scan or a magnetic resonance imaging study, which creates a very accurate image of the bone tissue.