What can cause pain in my lower leg when I'm dancing?

Pain in the lower leg while dancing could be caused by a few different things, such as shin splints or even stress fractures. Stress fractures are tiny hairline breaks in the lower leg bones. This can be caused by overuse or can be caused by an increase in workouts or workout intensity. Pain is increased with activity and decreases when at rest. This occurs when the muscles become overfatigued and then causes the overload of stress to break away at the bone. It could also be shin splints, which can also be called tibial stress syndrome. This type of pain can be a dull and aching pain that is likely to occur only during activity. Shin splints can be tender to touch and painful right along your tibia (shin bone). (This answer provided for NATA by the California University of Pennsylvania Athletic Training Education Program.)