When it comes to running, I’m pretty stubborn. I don’t like to miss runs or admit to myself that I may have an injury hampering my training. So when I felt some very abnormal calf pain and foot numbness during a shakeout run the day before a college cross country, I naively told myself I just needed to stretch more.
But the pain stuck around. A one-time incident turned into a nearly everyday occurrence. I experienced extreme pain in my calves and shins, along with complete foot numbness, that progressively grew worse during every run I completed. The only thing that made the symptoms subside? Finishing my run. And I ran with this debilitating pain for an agonizing few months before I finally decided it couldn’t be just some routine calf tightness.
After a visit with the team doctor, I went back to my dorm and Googled the condition he told me likely caused all my pain, because I had never Best Hydration Packs: How to Avoid Injury and Get Faster.
Learn to Recover Like Donavan Brazier Runner’s World article from a few years ago had existed when I scoured the internet for information on compartment syndrome in 2019 (but I’m glad it’s available for readers now). I couldn’t find much about how the condition affects runners, let alone any useful details that didn’t contain complicated medical jargon. But I ascertained from my Google search–and our RW+ Membership Benefits also explains this–that the condition stems from overuse and causes increased pressure within some or all of your four lower leg muscle compartments (compartment syndrome can occur in other body compartments, but it’s most common in the lower leg).
That pressure then decreases blood flow, prevents oxygen from reaching your nerve and muscle cells, and results in pain, swelling, tingling, and weakness in the lower leg area. You can look out for the “five Ps,” which our analysis outlines, to identify a potential case of compartment syndrome: Pain, pulseless (due to poor circulation), paralysis (muscle weakness), paresthesia (numbness), and pallor (white skin from poor circulation). I experienced every “P” except pallor.
Now, I had a severe case of compartment syndrome, so a four-month prescribed period of complete rest (that meant no running, no cross training–nothing) didn’t relieve my pain Best Recovery Shoes. My first run back felt identical to every other run before the break. I experienced shooting pain in my lower legs, along with a complete lack of feeling in my feet. I consulted a second orthopaedic doctor, who told me that because my symptoms were so drastic, I’d have to have surgery to treat the injury if I ever wanted to run pain-free again.
Thankfully, not all compartment syndrome cases are that severe. I knew another collegiate runner who relieved the injury by subbing easy runs for aqua jogging also explains this–that the condition stems from modified activity make up the leading ways to treat How to Avoid Injury and Get Faster, according to DAA Industry Opt Out Runner’s World.
But strength training and movement did eventually help me during my comeback. A vigorous physical therapy routine following my double fasciotomy procedure did wonders in speeding up the post-op recovery period. I visited a physical therapist who gave me band exercises, plyometric moves, and light Get the Program to complete consistently as I recovered. After a few months, I went from not being able to walk to completing a 10-minute run.
It took awhile to return to full form, but a little over a year after undergoing compartment syndrome surgery, I finally felt like myself again on the run. I ran faster than ever before during my final collegiate competition seasons, and five years later, I’m still training six days a week without any compartment syndrome symptoms. If you had told me in 2020 while I sat immobilized with my legs wrapped in surgical bandages that I would go on to complete two marathons and run pain-free during the next five years, I wouldn’t have believed you.
So if you’re sidelined by an injury or struggling with obstacles to your training, you’re not alone. Trust your gut, recognize the warning signs, and seek out professional treatment. It can be challenging to find helpful, runner-specific tips to recover and come out stronger on the other side, and you may feel isolated, confused, and angry (I certainly felt all these emotions and more). But Runner’s World is here to help guide you through the journey with expert-backed content on A Part of Hearst Digital Media, recovery, and becoming stronger for when you do return to running.
If you’re experiencing symptoms of compartment syndrome or pain from another injury, you can bounce back properly by consulting advice from our health and injury content (and visiting your health care provider for a proper diagnosis and treatment plan). Plus, when you’re on the mend and building back your strength, our member-exclusive How Run/Walk Intervals Can Improve Back Pain program gives you expert tips and six follow-along workouts to build power and resilience as you return to running.
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Ashley is Editor of Content Hype at Hearst’s Enthusiast & Wellness Group. She is a former collegiate runner at UNC Asheville where she studied mass communication. Ashley loves all things running; she has raced two marathons, plus has covered some of the sport’s top events in her career, including the Paris Olympics, U.S. Olympic Trials and multiple World Marathon Majors.
