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Compartment Syndrome
Chronic exertional compartment syndrome is a build-up of pressure within a muscle compartment of the lower leg during exercise. The pattern is very consistent: symptoms arrive at a predictable point into a run, build to the point of stopping, then resolve within minutes of rest. It is much less common than shin splints and is often diagnosed only after other causes have been ruled out.
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Does this sound like you?
Most people have several of these, not all of them.
- Tightness, cramping or burning at a predictable distance into a run
- Symptoms building until you have to stop
- Relief within minutes of stopping — the most distinctive feature
- Numbness or pins and needles in the foot during exercise
- Occasional foot drop or weakness late in a run
Why it happens
- Muscle expanding during exercise within a compartment that cannot accommodate it
- A rapid increase in running volume
- Running technique that heavily loads one compartment
- Previous lower leg trauma or scarring
What we would do about it
Roughly in this order — each step waits for the one before it.
- Distinguishing it from shin splints and stress fracture first
- Running technique retraining, particularly cadence and foot strike
- Calf and foot strengthening
- Structured load management and gradual rebuilding
- Soft tissue work through the compartment
- Referral for compartment pressure testing and a surgical opinion where it persists
See a doctor first if
- Your pain followed a significant injury
- It is getting worse rather than settling
- It comes with numbness, weakness or unexplained weight loss
This page is general information, not a diagnosis. Symptoms overlap between conditions, so the right treatment depends on an assessment.
The pattern is what gives this away
Symptoms at a predictable distance that vanish minutes after stopping is quite specific. Getting the diagnosis right saves months of treating the wrong thing. Ask a question first, or call us on 0403 907 587.
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Other leg conditions we treat
Related reading: the more common cause of shin pain and calf muscle injury.
General information only, not advice about your own problem — nothing here replaces an assessment. Source: Compartment Syndrome on Physiopedia.
