Acupuncture and Home Exercise for Shin Splints

The investigators want to investigate whether the KB2 acupuncture protocol is an effective method for decreasing pain and improving physical function in adult subjects with medial tibial stress syndrome. The investigators hypothesize that there will be significant improvement in both the acute and long-term timeframes, with respect to measures of pain and function. The investigators will measure shin pain immediately prior to treatment (baseline), immediately after initial treatment, one-, two-, and four-weeks following treatment, then again at three months post-treatment. Functional status will be evaluated at the above intervals using the Pain Disability Index. The Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome (MTSS) Score is a newly developed scoring system for subject-reported outcomes in evaluating treatment of MTSS, and this will be used to evaluate pain relief and physical functional status at initial treatment (baseline) and again at the four-week follow-up. If at the four-week follow-up no significant improvement is noted, subjects in the non-acupuncture treatment group will be given the option to crossover to another KB2 acupuncture treatment regimen, with follow-up as previously noted.