Dr. Timothy K. Durnin - 5/1/2011

Question
I have had shin/leg pain for a while now, I am gonna start from the beginning. In the fall I did cross country and my leg was fine during xc I started to swim twice a week to prepare for the swimming season. About a week after the official swim season started i started experencing shin pain almost like shin splints but much worse pain. I continued swimming while my leg continued to get worse. Swimming stopped and i went to to the dr. I got a x ray and they said it wad fine. Well i had nit been swimming for two months and it was getting worse so I went to my orthopedic dr and pa. They thought it was a stress fracture b/c of the severe pain tenderness, pain at rest, pain worse at night, only a small section of my shin hurts instead of the entire length.  They put me on crutches and in a black boot with air in till in could get a MRI. Which was two weeks. I went back and the MRI was normal. They took me off the crutches and sent me to pt. While at py we discovered that it was my soleus  muscle that was causing my shin pain.While at pt it has gotten a lot better no pain at rest, not as severe pain, no tenderness, able to run with taping of my shin. However in just got discharged from pt amd have started running more. I have been taping my shin b4 I run everyday. The  inside still hurts a little but is much better but the outside of my shin like where my sole us connects to my bone is hurting more now. I feel like my leg Is getting worse and in just got discharged from pt on Monday.my weekly milage is about 4.25 miles as of right now. Is there anything I can do to help my pain. Oh and i am starting/trying to train to do xc this fall in college so I really need to have my leg healthy. Can you help me please?

Answer
Hi Ashleigh,

Sounds like a compartment syndrome. This is where inflammation builds up in the lower leg or forearm and causes pressure on the blood supply resulting in severe pain. Dirt bike riders get this and is known as arm pump. Many require surgery but if you ramp up your exercise regime slowly you can build up collateral circulation or ask your doc for a core dialator.  These things can get complex due to minute changes in anatomy from person to person. First you need to consult with the Ortho again with this diagnosis to see if it is valid. I say this because there are effective treatment options for this condition.

Good Luck!

Dr. Timothy Durnin