So I have been dealing with my lower leg problems for like 1 and years on my own after I was left in the dark when my doctors in Hawaii didn’t respond back to me. I did PT for months and stuff but never got fully rid of my symptoms. In college here in Ohio, I still dealt with the same symptoms and felt like I really needed to address this somehow if I wanted to get to the next level because it kept on preventing me from having a regular training volume and routine. So recently I went to a sports medicine specialist and he did a compartment syndrome test on me and told me I have a typical compartment syndrome and need surgery to address it. I will be seeing my orthopedic soon to see when will be the best time to do the surgery. This sucks big time because I was really counting on this year to improve and be ready physically and technically for sophmore season of college soccer here, but I don’t think I’ll even be at the appropriate level to play at all, forget competing and being a better player. Has anyone dealt with compartment syndrome or know how about someone who has it? I would appreciate it. I believe mine is an exercise-induced chronic compartment syndrome injury that developed overtime long ago, but still hasn’t gone away til today.
I just saw this post. I managed to avoid developing compartment syndrome but I had serious lower leg issues about 9-10 years ago due to overpronation when I ran, in addition to doing too much work on the track and not enough on grass. Did your PT or orthopod do any gait analysis on you? I don’t have any insights regarding surgery and recovery, but in terms of long term thinking you should try to figure out what caused it in the first place and make appropriate measures, which might require orthotics or other biomechanics adjustments. Good luck.
Thanks flash yeah they did told me to buy new running shoes that had more support which supposedly would help the overpronation that I have, but the shoes made no difference honestly and whenever I practiced barefoot or with barefoot/minmalist shoes I felt a lot better and natural and developed my foot muscles better. They can’t say for sure what caused the compartment syndrome because there are so many variables and there are just theories. Some people are just prone to tighter fascia than others just like how some people are more flexible than others but it is a mix of nature and nurture I believe because during that time there was a lot of training I was trying to do and my trainers in my school pushed me through it and kept telling me I was fine and it got worse and worse. But I can’t say anything for sure as there is only so much you can control in life and do the right things. The rest is out of your control.
Regarding shoes with good arch support, Mike Forgrave recommended the Saucony Progrid Triumph to me. I’ve been using them since 2005 and really like them.
If you’re looking for orthotics on the cheap, try one of those Dr. Shoals machines to diagnose your needs. I stumbled across one at Bed Bath and Beyond and tried it on a lark. It was pretty accurate in it diagnosis.
Just giving an update… had a successful surgery and rehabilitation and I am starting light training and slowly increasing the volume and doing my rehab exercises on my own. I have built my tempo running up to 1300 yards and will continue to move forward and will be adding sprints this week and have got back to lifting. Doing soccer juggling feels better than when I had the injury but still need to work on getting the quickness with the ball and touch to a consistent standard. It sucks my squat has gone down drastically and I will need to build up my leg power and strength again but at least I can train pain free and will be better in the long run.
Well I had to learn how to walk again and practice and get comfortable with walking regularly everyday and slowly started jogging after that in my physical therapy. I feel like my lower legs are strong enough now to run on a consistent basis but if I feel like I need less impact then that would be a good option.