You’re a student, right? Does your school have a health center? I don’t know how it works in Greece, but most of the colleges and Universities in the US have medical facilities that treat their students.
We can only guess and speculate, someone who actually examined you would probably be able to tell what’s wrong.
Martha it’s shin splints
When you are in a field of horses, don’t look for zebras. Compartment Syndrome is 99% of the time due to blunt force trauma. Having cared for Patients with “Real CS”, it doesn’t go away, it progresses until they lose neuro-vascular function distal to the site of injury.Gee isn’t the internet great, if you want to be a doctor, go to medical school.You may have another syndrome though…Munchausens.
In my experience, shin splints refers to a serious pain in the shin area. It is a generality of symptoms, if that makes sense, or a compilation of symptoms that points to pain in the shin area from overuse and running on hard surfaces.
You said that you don’t land on your heels, is that right? You should land on your midfoot and roll from the outside of the foot transversely ( across) to the ball of the foot, where you will push off. If you are jogging on your toes, no wonder you are in pain.
A good exercise to alleviate the pain is to do upward toe curls. Simply flex your ankle upward as hard and as long as you can. You will feel that muscle just to the outside of your shin tighten up. Hold it for 15-20 seconds, rest and repeat. Try doing that as often as you can all day long.
Realcarma, no. You are refering to acute compartment syndrome, (which is indeed caused by a blunt trauma etc) which is very serious. Whereas, I am referrring to Chronic compartment syndrome. I don’t wish to sound scientific or play the doctor though, so i ll probably get it checked. I am suspecting CCS because i am having tightness and an aching pain- a crampy pain - in the lower legs (bilateral) as i jog. and i ve had it for quite some time, but kept recurring if i attempted to run again, event after taking time off etc.
I understand that shin splints/stress fractures have similar pain patterns but i think patients with shin splints or late stress fractures have pain which persists even at rest
[quote]acidhell wrote:
Realcarma, no. You are refering to acute compartment syndrome, (which is indeed caused by a blunt trauma etc) which is very serious. Whereas, I am referrring to Chronic compartment syndrome. I don’t wish to sound scientific or play the doctor though, so i ll probably get it checked. I am suspecting CCS because i am having tightness and an aching pain- a crampy pain - in the lower legs (bilateral) as i jog. and i ve had it for quite some time, but kept recurring if i attempted to run again, event after taking time off etc.
I understand that shin splints/stress fractures have similar pain patterns but i think patients with shin splints or late stress fractures have pain which persists even at rest[/quote]
I think you’re over analyzing.
[quote]acidhell wrote:
I understand that shin splints/stress fractures have similar pain patterns but i think patients with shin splints or late stress fractures have pain which persists even at rest[/quote]
OMFG, are you stupid. I HAVE HAD SHIN SPLINTS MANY TIMES! THE PAIN DOES NOT PERSIST AT REST. WHY DO YOU THINK YOU KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT A PROBLEM YOU’VE GOT NO EXPERIANCE WITH, AND THEN TELL THOSE WHO DO THAT THEY ARE WRONG???
the chances are 99.999726384% that you have good old fashioned shin splints. wait, stop, i don’t care what you think, see a doctor before you say i’m wrong!
Yes, please run to the nearest Emergency Room and request an “elective fasciotomy”. There is no way that could be shin-splints. Even if they tell you are wrong, fight with them and tell them that what you read on the internet must be right!
Yes Acidsmell, thats what you should do!Run (or walk like a gimp as you seem to have problems with running), your compartmnet pressures are rising and your calves may blow up!
Da-Da-Da-Douchebag.
[quote]acidhell wrote:
I dont land on my heels![/quote]
That’s the answer. I don’t care what else you say. Unless you’re running on your hands, not landing on your heels can only mean landing on your toes or balls of your feet which explains everything you described.
–Tiribulus->
acidhell -
Just to be fair to you, let’s just suppose you do have this syndrome you found. Fine. But why not rule out shin splints first?
The Tibialis Anterior is frequently imbalanced when people first begin running. It does not matter how strong your legs are. At all. Period. People have strong benches and rows and still have weak rotator cuffs that cause injury.
In countries like Kenya, where kids often do not have shoes, the TA usually is balanced as they grow up running around barefoot and develop a healthy balance in the TA. Here in America, people often do not have that natural balance because they wear sneakers (which changes the running gait) and Americans tend to be more sedentary.
Just for the sake of “testing” to see if you have the splints:
Good luck. If it is the syndrome you think you have (which, for your sake, I hope it isn’t) then no harm done. If this works for you, great.
CLewis, thanks! That was very helpful!
I did that little test with the dorsiflexions, and i got that severe burning sensation in my shins(tib. ant), i reached failure, well i d better not even tell you how soon. OMG, how weak my tibialis anterior is! It’s unbelievable. I mean i squat very very heavy, and clean very heavy, but damned i was taken by surprise.
So u think this is it?
And guys, plz don’t get angry! i mean no harm! I was just worried.
Not a doctor, cannot diagnose/treat anything - but build up strength there, see how you do in the next few weeks. Keep it up. Don’t forget the calf stretching.
(And while you’re at it, since you’re planning on running, might as well head off other injuries by making sure you do lunges and other unilateral leg movements, do plenty of activation work for glutes (maximus/minimus/medius) and foam rolling that IT band. If you don’t know what that means, just read some articles by Cressey and Robertson on this site.)
Best of luck.
CLewis, yes, i ll stretch my calves regularly too. Actually, i am flexible enough, i can do the front splits with minimal warm up, and that requires good calf flexibility, (beyond ham, and hip flexor). I ll also look up about the glute activation articles, although i don’t think this is a problem.
I also experienced Shin Splints when I started joggin/running. I Tried to remedy the pain by using pain killers and elastic bandages, but it was only when I bought new running shoes (w/ torsion control/stability) and started a stringent weight lifting routine emphasizing on lower leg exercises (Toe & Calf Raises and Squats)that I stop having shin pain.
Acidhell, I was getting the same as you a few weeks back. I didn’t do any running for about a year then when I did I got this strange pain in my shins for the first few times, well wasn’t much of a pain but felt like my muscles were tight as hell. After about a week of running it started to go away.
Alright, as the probably one person on this board who has compartment syndrome (exertional compartment syndrome in my case), allow me to weigh in
. My compartment syndrome took a long time to be diagnosed by the military doctors. I couldn’t even WALK a mile without having to stop. Running, skiing, or anything else that puts stress on my lower legs hurt like hell.
I took ant-inflammatory drugs and other pain medication, as well as iced my legs before and after running. I took time off of running. When that didn’t help I went in for x-rays and bone-scans to rule out stress fractures.
Only after all that, did they suspect ECS. Then they tested for ECS. That day, my friends, still haunts my memory. To test for ECS they take a very large gauge needle, attach it to a pressure monitor and plunge it into each compartment of both legs (4 times per leg) to get a “resting reading.” Then I got on a treadmill and ran until my legs started to hurt, they plunged the needle into my right leg four more times (once per compartment). I ran some more until my legs hurt again. They then plunged the needle into my left leg four times.
Only after that hell was it possible for them to diagnose me with ECS. I had the surgery over eight years ago. They cut into both legs and opened up each of the four compartments in my lower legs. I used crutches for about 10 days (lots of sitting around watching TV) then had to wear ace bandages wrapped around my legs for about a month, then wore surgical stockings for a few more months after that.
I?ve got the scars to prove it! Them are some nifty scars. Both sides of both legs from almost my ankle to almost my knee. To this day I still can’t run very far, but I can walk and ski…
I?m not saying that you do or do not have some kind of compartment syndrome. I?m saying that you are just at the beginning of the road to finding out what may be wrong with your legs. Don?t get ahead of yourself. Go see an Orthopedic doctor, or (even better) a sports medicine specialist.
jacnito, sorry to hear about that man!!
What exactly were your symptoms?
And now after fasciotomy, you still cant sprint or jog for a long distance? And how and WHY did you get compartment?
[quote]acidhell wrote:
jacnito, sorry to hear about that man!!
What exactly were your symptoms?
And now after fasciotomy, you still cant sprint or jog for a long distance? And how and WHY did you get compartment?[/quote]
Let’s put it this way. Before the surgery I couldn’t WALK a half-mile. I probably still can’t run that far, but I can walk pretty much however far I have to. I went on a few 5-mile ruck marches after that, and made them with what I would consider a normal amount of pain 
I think mine was more hereditary than anything else. I played football and baseball as a kid, but never noticed any problems. After about six months in the military I started having problems running. It got progressively worse as time went on.
Now that I’m not in the military anymore, there isn’t a real need for me to run. I don’t. I do stationary bikes, eleptical machines, etc. to get my cardio in. Anything that has me placing a lot of stress on my lower leg is out. That being said, I just squatted 245 lbs. this morning. The compartment syndrom (what’s left) doesn’t seem to affect my lifting…
You have flat feet!!! I have the same problem. Pain went away by getting custom insoles ($200!@!@) and better running shoes.