Written by Zita Sham, Principal Physiotherapist at Phoenix Rehab, AHPC A1302159H.Clinically reviewed by Louise Yow, Principal Physiotherapist & Director, AHPC A1300363H.Last reviewed 8 October 2026.
A bruised shin is a bruise on the shin bone, in the thin lining that covers the bone, after a kick, a stud or a hard edge. There is almost no muscle there to soften the blow, so it leaves a tender lump that can stay sore to press for weeks. A doctor rules out a crack.
Key takeaways
- A bruised shin, also called a shin contusion, a shin bone bruise or a periosteal bruise, is bleeding under the thin lining of the shin bone after a direct blow.
- It leaves a tender, swollen lump on the front of the shin that can stay sore to press for weeks. Walking on it does not rule out a crack. A doctor and an X-ray decide.
- One spot on the bone that hurts to press after a blow, or pain that is growing, needs a doctor the same day.
- A shin or calf getting tighter and more swollen, with pain far out of proportion to the knock, needs the emergency department now.
- In older adults, and in people on blood thinners or long-term steroids, a knock to the shin can tear the skin or bleed into a large swelling. A skin tear needs the emergency department now. A large swelling needs a doctor the same day.
- The color fades before the shin can take a hop, a run or a kick on the pad. We test those against the other leg.
What is a bruised shin?
Run your fingers down the front of your lower leg. The hard edge under the skin is the tibia, the shin bone, and there is almost no muscle between it and the skin. A thin layer called the periosteum covers the bone. When something hard hits the front of the shin, the blow lands on that lining. Small blood vessels under it bleed, the blood collects between the lining and the bone, and a lump rises over the spot.
Doctors call it a shin contusion, a periosteal bruise or a subperiosteal hematoma. Most people call it a bruised shin or a shin bone bruise. The same knock on the thigh lands on muscle instead, and that is a dead leg.
What does a bruised shin bone look like?
A firm, egg-shaped lump on the front of the shin, tender to touch. The skin over it goes red, then purple, then yellow and green as the bruise slides down toward the ankle. Some people feel a shallow dent at the spot once the swelling goes down. The lump sits right where the sock line and the shin guard press, so you notice it every time you pull a sock on.
A bruise you can see, and a bone bruise on a scan
“Bone bruise” can mean two things. One is the bruise you can see and feel on the front of the shin, with the bleeding under the bone’s lining. The other is swelling inside the bone itself after a heavy blow or a twist, which a doctor may find on an MRI. An MRI picks up bone bruises that a plain X-ray does not.1 Whether you need an X-ray or a scan is a decision for your doctor.
Can you walk on a bruised shin?
Usually, yes, with a limp for the first days. But people also walk in on a cracked tibia, so walking does not rule out a break. If you cannot stand on the leg, or one spot on the bone is sharp to press, a doctor and an X-ray decide. A full break is covered in broken shin bone.
How it happens, in the order to check
1. A checked kick
A low kick checked shin to shin in Muay Thai, kickboxing or MMA, or a kick that lands on the point of a raised knee. A kick checked hard by a raised knee or shin can crack the bone instead. Both are covered in Muay Thai and boxing injuries.
2. A stud, a boot, a stick or a ball
A late tackle or a stud raked down the shin in football and futsal, often below the shin guard or where the guard has slipped. A stick or a ball on the front of the shin in hockey and floorball, covered in sports injuries. A bicycle pedal that spins back into the shin, covered in cycling injuries.
3. A hard edge at home, on the train or at work
A car door swung into the leg. The corner of the coffee table in the dark. A foot that drops into the gap at the MRT platform screen door and drags the shin across the edge. A missed step on the stairs. A pallet, a trolley or a ladder rung on site, covered in construction worker injuries.
In each case you remember the knock. A shin that started aching over weeks of running, with no knock at all, is a different problem: see shin splints and stress fracture.
Bruised shin, cracked shin bone, skin tear or something else?
Ask three things: was there a knock, does one spot on the bone hurt to press, and is the leg getting tighter.
| Condition | How it started | What you notice | What it needs first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bruised shin (periosteal bruise) | A kick, a stud, a car door, a table edge | A tender, swollen lump on the front of the shin. You can walk on it, and it hurts to press | Cold, padding and the leg raised. A doctor the same day if one spot on the bone hurts to press or the pain is growing |
| Cracked or broken shin bone | A hard kick, a tackle, a crash or a fall | Sharp pain at one spot on the bone, pain on standing, and sometimes a leg that looks bent | A doctor and an X-ray. The emergency department now if you cannot stand on it |
| Pretibial hematoma or skin tear | A knock or a fall, mostly in older adults, or in people on blood thinners or long-term steroids | A large, tight swelling under the skin, or a flap of skin peeled back from the shin | The emergency department now for a skin tear. A doctor the same day for a large swelling |
| Infected bruise (cellulitis) | Days after a knock that broke the skin | Redness that spreads, heat, swelling or pus | A doctor the same day. The emergency department now with a fever, or if you feel unwell |
| Acute compartment syndrome | Hours after a hard blow, a crush or a fracture | A tight, swollen shin or calf. Pain far out of proportion to the knock, worse when someone stretches your toes. Tingling or numbness in the foot | The emergency department now |
| Shin splints | No knock. A rise in running or jumping | An ache along the inner edge of the shin, over a length you can trace with your fingers | Changes to the running load |
| Stress fracture | No knock. Weeks of running, marching or jumping | Pain at one spot you can cover with a fingertip, worse with every run | A doctor, and a plan for the bone |
Why a bruised shin stays sore for weeks
A bruise in a muscle has room to spread. Under the bone’s lining it has none, so the blood lifts the lining off the bone and the lump stays tight and tender. That is why it hurts to press long after the color has gone. Most settle over a few weeks. The swelling and the color go first, then the ache on walking. Tenderness to press goes last.
Some people can feel a firm ridge or a shallow dent at the spot for weeks or months after the soreness has gone. A lump that is growing, or still there and still tender after a few weeks, goes to a doctor, who decides whether it needs an X-ray or a scan.
What happens if you leave a bruised shin alone?
Most settle without treatment. What keeps one sore is the next knock on the same spot: the next sparring round, the next match with the guard slipped, the same coffee table. A bruised shin still painful to walk on two weeks later goes to a doctor.
Older skin, blood thinners and the shin
With age the skin gets thinner and more fragile. On the shin, where the skin lies straight on the bone, a minor knock or a fall can tear a large flap of skin. These pretibial lacerations happen mostly in older adults, and much more often in women. People on long-term steroids have thinner skin, and people on blood thinners are more likely to bleed into a swelling under the tear, a pretibial hematoma.2
A collection of blood in the wound can stretch the skin over it and let infection in, and a 2017 review recommends draining it.2 For a skin flap, go to the emergency department now. Leave the flap in place, cover it with a clean dressing, and do not pull it off. Whether it needs closing, draining or dressing is a decision for the doctor.
When the bruise breaks the skin
A graze or a cut over a bruised shin can get infected. Watch for redness that spreads past the bruise, heat, swelling that grows, or pus. That is a doctor the same day. With a fever, or if you feel unwell, go to the emergency department now.
When the shin gets tighter: compartment syndrome
The muscles of the lower leg sit in tight sleeves of tissue that do not stretch. Bleeding inside a sleeve can push the pressure up until blood struggles to reach the muscle. This is acute compartment syndrome, a surgeon’s emergency. A fracture is the usual cause, but in a study of 164 people with it, an injury to the soft tissues without a fracture was the second most common cause, and one in ten had a bleeding disorder or took blood thinners.3 It is rare after a bruised shin.
The signs are a shin or calf that gets tighter and more swollen hour by hour, pain far out of proportion to the knock, pain when someone stretches your toes, and tingling or numbness in the foot. Go to the emergency department now. The fracture side of it is covered in broken shin bone.
Bruised shin treatment: who does what
- A doctor (your GP, a polyclinic doctor or the emergency department) examines the shin, rules out a fracture and compartment syndrome, decides whether you need an X-ray or a scan, and treats an infected or torn wound.
- A wound nurse or a surgeon manages a large skin flap or a hematoma that needs draining.
- A physiotherapist checks where it hurts to press, measures the calf, the ankle bend and the hop against the other leg, and brings back running, jumping and the kick in stages. If one spot on the bone stays sharp to press, we refer you back to your doctor.
The four stages for a bruised shin
In the Phoenix Recovery Protocol the work starts at Calm & Protect: the shin is padded and kept away from further knocks, the swelling is kept down, and a doctor has ruled out a crack. Move & Mobilize gets you walking without the limp and the ankle bending fully on stairs and squats. Rebuild & Strengthen loads the calf and the leg one side at a time, then brings in hopping. Return & Perform tests the tasks themselves: running, cutting, the tackle, the shin guard back on, and for Muay Thai, kicks on the pad at rising effort before any checking.
What we measure
- Where it hurts to press. On the bone, or in the muscle beside it. A spot on the bone that stays sharp to press goes back to your doctor.
- Swelling. A tape around both shins at the same height, week to week.
- Walking. The limp, and the stairs, up and down.
- Ankle bend. The knee-to-wall lunge, in centimeters, against the other leg.
- Calf strength. Single-leg calf raises, counted on each leg.
- Hopping. Only once a doctor has ruled out a fracture. Hops on the spot, counted on each leg, and whether the shin hurts. Hopping without pain at the spot, on a par with the other leg, comes before running.
- Running. At rising speed and distance, and where the shin starts to ache.
- Kicking. For Muay Thai and kickboxing, kicks on the pad, counted, at rising effort. Checking and sparring come last.
Tested, not dated. The plan moves on when the measures say so.
What you can do this week
- If you cannot stand on the leg, or the shin looks bent, do not try to walk it off. Go to the emergency department.
- Stop playing or training on it. Another knock on the same spot adds to the bleeding.
- A cold pack wrapped in a cloth, in short spells. Sit with the leg raised.
- Protect the spot from the next knock: a pad or a shin guard over it, and a sock that does not press on the lump.
- If the skin is broken, keep it clean and covered. A skin flap goes to the emergency department now.
- Press the bone each morning. Note whether one spot is getting less sore, or not.
- Pain relief and anti-inflammatory medication are a decision for your doctor or pharmacist.
Is this normal?
Usually expected: a lump on the front of the shin that is sorest in the first days, then softens. A bruise that turns purple, then yellow and green, and slides down toward the ankle. A limp in the first days. A spot that stays tender to press for some weeks. A firm ridge or a shallow dent you can still feel after the soreness has gone.
Worth getting checked: a lump that is growing. A spot on the bone that is no less sore from one week to the next. A shin that aches more with every run when you go back. A lump that appears without a knock.
When to see a doctor first
- Call 995 if bone is showing in the wound, or if a wound is bleeding heavily and firm pressure does not slow it.
- Go to the emergency department now if you cannot stand on the leg after a blow, or the shin looks bent, or for a deep cut that reaches down to the shin bone, or a skin tear or a flap of skin over the shin. Also for a shin or calf that is getting tighter and more swollen hour by hour, with pain far out of proportion to the knock, pain when the toes are stretched, or tingling or numbness in the foot. Also if the foot turns cold, pale or blue, if a swelling on the shin is still growing and you take blood thinners or have a bleeding disorder, or if redness is spreading from a broken-skin bruise and you have a fever or feel unwell.
- See a doctor the same day if you can walk but one spot on the shin bone hurts to press after a blow, or the pain is growing. Also for a large swelling in an older adult or in someone on blood thinners or long-term steroids, or redness, heat, pus or swelling spreading from a cut or graze over the bruise.
- See a doctor soon for a bruised shin still painful to walk on two weeks later, a lump that is still there and still tender after a few weeks, or bruises that appear without a knock. A shin ache that builds over weeks of running is covered in stress fracture.
Where are you with this right now?
1. It is less sore to press each day
You remember the kick or the car door. The lump was biggest the next morning, and since then it has gone down. The bruise has gone from purple to yellow, you walk without the limp, and the spot hurts a little less each time you press it. That is a bruised shin behaving as expected. Pad it, keep it away from the next knock, and bring back running before kicking and contact. You do not need us for this, and we would rather say so.
2. The bruise has faded, and the shin still will not take a knock
Five weeks since the check in Tuesday sparring.
The color went weeks ago. The lump has not. You still pull your socks on with care, and the shin guard presses on the same spot every time you strap it. On the pad you kick with the other leg. At Saturday futsal you turn sideways when the ball comes at your shin, and the grading you booked has moved to next month.
Rest made sense in the first days. In your own weeks since, rest has faded the color and left the spot as sore to press as it was.
The bruise has faded. Has anyone checked whether that shin can take a hop, or a kick on the pad, against the other one?
If one spot on the bone is still sharp to press, or the lump is growing, a doctor sees you first. If your doctor is happy, one Assessment & Treatment with a physiotherapist checks where it hurts to press, measures the calf, the ankle bend and the hop against the other leg, treats what is limiting you in the same visit, and tells you which stage you are in.
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3. A fracture was found, or you had surgery
If the X-ray showed a crack or a break, the bone sets the pace, and your doctor or surgeon sets what the leg takes and when. See broken shin bone and physiotherapy after surgery. If a surgeon closed a skin flap or drained a hematoma, the wound comes first, and we work inside those limits. Your surgeon’s protocol takes precedence.
If it is months on and the shin still will not take a run, a hop or a kick, the Stalled Recovery Review is three weeks with the same physiotherapist. The first visit measures the shin, the calf, the ankle and the task that catches. The next two measure how they respond.
All of it runs on the same four stages. The Phoenix Recovery Protocol explains what each stage works on and what you have to meet to move up. No referral needed to start.
Next step
Find out which stage you are in
Pain is the first thing to leave. Movement and strength are the last things trained back, and most people stop before that part is done. One Assessment and Treatment is a single 45-minute appointment at $230, nett, no GST. Your therapist finds what is actually limiting you, treats it in the same appointment, and you leave with your current stage and a written plan.
Prefer to phone? Each of our five clinics has its own number on the clinics page. No referral needed to book.
Related reading
- Broken shin bone, and compartment syndrome in the lower leg
- Muay Thai and boxing injuries, including checked kicks
- Shin splints: an ache along the inner shin
- Stress fracture, shin splints or a crack
- Dead leg: the same knock on the thigh
- Football injuries, including the shin
- The Phoenix Recovery Protocol, and the four stages
Sources: 1. Mink JH, Deutsch AL. Occult cartilage and bone injuries of the knee: detection, classification, and assessment with MR imaging. Radiology. 1989;170(3):823-829. 2. Hili S, Wong KY, Stephens P. Pretibial lacerations. Br J Hosp Med (Lond). 2017;78(11):C162-C166. 3. McQueen MM, Gaston P, Court-Brown CM. Acute compartment syndrome. Who is at risk? J Bone Joint Surg Br. 2000;82(2):200-203.
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