Since the size of your muscular compartments is fixed by the time you’re done growing, it would make sense that problems would start to arise soon afterwards. One study pegged the median age of developing symptoms at 20. 2 Here’s what we do know:Ĭompartment syndrome occurs more often in young runners. So there is less data on risk factors than for more common issues like IT band syndrome. For more on running injuries please read The Most Common Running Injuries in Men and Are Women More Prone To Running Injuries Than Men. 1 This is good, since posterior and especially deep posterior compartment syndrome is more difficult to treat.Ĭompartment syndrome is fairly rare, accounting for only 1.4% of all running injuries, according one study. It’s possible to get chronic exertional compartment syndrome in any of the four compartments of the leg, but 95% of cases occur in the anterior or lateral compartments. In the case of compartment syndrome, however, the sheath of connective tissue is too small, and when the muscles swell up when you run, pressure builds up inside the compartment and causes pain. Your shin muscles, for example, are in the anterior compartment, while your calf muscles are in the posterior compartment.īecause muscles swell up during exercise, muscle compartments are typically large enough to accommodate this swelling. Each compartment is a sheath made of connective tissue. The muscles of your lower leg are divided up into four compartments. In the case of this article, when we say “compartment syndrome,” we are referring specifically to chronic exertional compartment syndrome of the lower leg. Compartment syndrome is known more formally as chronic exertional compartment syndrome, which distinguishes it from acute compartment syndrome, which is a medical emergency that usually occurs after severe injuries or serious infections. Though rare, compartment syndrome can cause perplexing and long-standing pain in your shin, or more rarely, in your calves. But hang on, if that pain in your shin muscles, instead of the bone, it could be compartment syndrome. Severe damage to the nerve and blood vessels around a muscle can cause the muscle to die and amputation might be necessary.Pain on the front of your shins after a run? Seems like a cut and dry case of shin splints ( The Ultimate Guide To Shin Splints For Runners). If the pressure becomes great enough, blood flow to the muscle can be blocked, leading to a condition known as compartment syndrome. Blood vessels and nerves can also be affected by the pressure caused by any swelling in the leg. The thickness of the fascia can give problems when any inflammation present in the leg has little room to expand into. Due to the great pressure placed on the leg, from the column of blood from the heart to the feet, the fascia is very thick in order to support the leg muscles. The fascia also separates the skeletal muscles from the subcutaneous tissue. The septa are formed from the fascia which is made up of a strong type of connective tissue. Įach compartment contains connective tissue, nerves and blood vessels. The lower leg is divided into four compartments by the interosseous membrane of the leg, the anterior intermuscular septum, the transverse intermuscular septum and the posterior intermuscular septum.
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