I have a friend who, after doing grand allegro, has pain in her shin bones. I talked to her and she said that it wasn't in the muscle it was the actual bone that hurt.

I suggested shin splints, but I know how rare they are and how unlikely, so I thought it could be the bone jarring from landing poorly.

She said the pain went away, but still hurt when she moved.

Any thoughts?

Hi there. Just a little information that may help re Shin Splints.

Plie is a dancer’s best friend

I believe the most important thing to do in regards to shin splints is to find the cause and then correct first and foremost. Three main conditions that can cause shin splints include:

1) Hard surfaces (Ie) A floor that is not sprung.
2) Insufficient warm up.
3) Inadequately supportive shoes.

A fourthFactor would be too much jumping. I think the performance/repetitiveness of any jumping exercise should be at the discretion of the teacher.

Ways in which one could help a student with shin splints:

1) Ensure student has sufficiently warmed up. (Including gentle stretches whilst warming up).
2) Consider placing shock absorbent inserts into the ballet slipper/dance shoe.
3) Ensure that all jump landings are completed in a plie position and with the heels firmly on the floor. (Note: this also affects the Achilles tendon and also the calf muscle).
4) Ensure that when landing from a jump that the feet are not rolling inwards at all. (Rolling places unnecessary strain on the shins, especially the inside).
5) Preferably train on a correctly sprung floor.
6) Ensure that students are not crunching their toes especially when landing from a jump.
7) If pain persists for more than a week, I would recommend that the student consult a doctor to confirm that there are no stress fractures of the bone and to also prevent a future chronic condition. Any reported numbness should also be referred to a doctor.

Remedies that may also help:

1) Recommend complete rest if the condition is chronic.
2) Walk on grass: may relieve pain by stimulating different nerves.
3) Ice the area: can be good in pain relief however I would only recommend that this be done after exercise. (Ice makes muscles cold and cold muscles are prone to injury).
4) Massage: before class (before or after warmup), massage your shins and calves. If you press deep enough, you will find knots in the muscles and working out these knots will be uncomfortable but when you have finished, you will feel so much better when dancing.

Hope this may help.

Spangles covered this pretty well. I would just like to echo that you should always get checked by the Doc just to make sure that it is not a stress fracture.

Sometimes when we were in a heavy rehearsal period I would get terrible shin splints just from overwork. Rest and massage and long soaks in the tub would get me through.

I would be pretty cautious to assume that this is "shin splints", which usually occur on the distal tibia ( towards the ankle ), and medially ( on the inside ). Other common possibilites are an anterior compartment sndrome, stress fractures and Osgood Schlatter disease. There are even a couple of less common things to consider.
I think the take-home message is that if there is any progressive pain or limp it is really important to get an evaluation. Usually this can be figured out with a quick exam, and the occasional xray, and if necessary, the very rare bone scan. Usually these things do turn out to be overuse based, but even if that is the case, it is important to get on top of it quickly, starting with an accurate diagnosis.
Pain at rest, or with comon activities - ie walking, require prompt evaluation.

Thankyou for your input Lucy and Mathew. Mathew, just out of curiosity, what is Osgood Schlatter disease?

Osgood Schlatter DZ is an inflammation that develops just below the knee ( at a place called the tibial tuberosity) , usually in teenagers involved in vigorous jumping,runing, or climbing sports. Most teenagers grow out of this, but it can be painful for a few months. If you see a xray of the knee in profile, you really get a sense of the term "growing pains".