September 2008 I got sick and caught Pneumonia, and this exacerbated my Asthma, and needless to say I have been fighting to get my lungs back... Good news is that it is Feb and I am running 3 miles in the gym... Legs feel great.. Scars are still pretty visible and sometimes people will glare at them, but I don't care. I wear them like a badge of honor... I am tough... I keep going... I strive to get back to doing what I love.
Tonight I was running on an indoor track at the gym and it felt awesome. No shortness of breath.. feet felt light... calves were tight, but I did not care.. just crusin.. I forced myself to stop... slowly building mileage... looking forward to warm weather and long trail runs....
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I had all four compartments released in both legs for the first time in 1988. My original Compartmental Syndrome (CS) symptoms began when running high school cross country, in connection with this time period I do remember my calf muscles developing very quickly. It took four years before I found a doctor that figured out that I had CS. As for the surgery I spent three days in the hospital and the next three weeks after that on crutches. I experienced some muscle bulging in one of my lower incisions; I have four 3 inch incisions in each leg. Since the surgery I have had numbness in my legs and pins and needles whenever I bang my legs or someone touches them. Over the years I have run on and off with only minor discomfort during exercise.
I started to run with some consistency in 2000. I built up slowly to ten miles. I did not experience much pain during my runs, however, after one of my ten mile runs I started to experience pain again. From that point on I could not manage a run much over a mile and even worst the pain in both legs stayed with me even when I was not running. The pain became chronic it felt as though someone was squeezing my bones. Even standing for more than a couple of minutes was distracting. The pain was different than my first CS experience so I Initially did not think I had relapsed. I worked with an orthopedic doctor and after ruling out different causes we decided to do a pressure test. The test indicated that the CS had come back - so in 2002 I had all four compartments in both legs released a second time. The doctor thought that the scaring from the first surgery had increased and caused the relapse. He went back in through my original incisions when performing the surgery. I did the surgery as an outpatient. I stopped my pain medication early and paid for it, the throbbing in my legs was much worse than anything I had experienced previously.
Since the second surgery I have not be able to run without pain and rarely even try. Some days are better than others on bad days I experience shooting pains, tingling, pins and needles and my feet will turn extremely cold, even to the touch, and at other times they will become very hot. I also experience a great deal of swelling; by the end of the day I have to loosen my shoes and my feet are very sore. I have also noticed that my Achilles tendons are tight.
I have found that compression socks, stretching and orthotics help. Also I can cycle and often do. I ride five to six days a week and complete several centuries a year. I lift weights but only on my legs in the winter and never direct calf work. I try to keep my weight down with cycling.
Please let me know if anyone has experienced swelling and if they have found a solution. Also I would be glad to share my experiences and what has and has not worked for me.
Bike7185,
I have experienced many of the same things you have. I still am not able to get up to my old running mileage and I have been forced to bike or do other forms of cardio. Like you I experience tingling and needle like feelings in my legs. over time this will lessen, but many nerves were cut or damaged with your surgery and it will take the body awhile to calm the nerve down. You can ask your doctor about a medicine called neurotin that will help with that if its severe. I also swell and get edema... try wearing your compression stockings at night while sleeping the day before you attempt to run. I have done this and it works pretty well with hardly any edema which leads to muscle fatigue... No easy answers unfortunatly... I love to run long distance, but not sure If I will ever do it again...
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