She is 67yrs old and was a hardcore tennis player in her thirties and forties, then switched over to golf in her fifties and sixty, but the damage had already been done.

After finally finding this 3-part “Fascia” article on the net after hours of searching for her so called “syndrome” and not finding anything on the net by the name “compartmentalized muscle syndrome”… only bits and pieces called “compartment syndrome”.

I agree she has signs of compartment syndrome in specific places in her body because of repetitive activities (w/o respite), but the majority of her problems, which is severe pain in virtually every muscle group throughout the body because of poor biomechanics for decades all stemming from her feet.

Ironically she can’t stand having our massage therapist touch her feet because they hurt so bad, so she completely ignores them when they are the root of her problem.

The muscles that overlap, especially in the legs and upper back “stick together” as our currently shared massage therapist states (and has every massage therapist I’ve ever had also stated) because the fascia has become so rigid and bound up over decades that the muscles can no longer slide freely against each other.

Her (and my) staggered gait over the years has lead (no doubt in my mind) to her (and my) shortened hip flexor muscles, strain thought-out the body to muscle, tendon, and ligament dysfunction which cannot be reversed.

We both have to take narcotics to alleviate chronic pain, which is the only thing that does help us both.

Doctors have called our problems “Fibro Myalgia” for decades… and instead of trying to find the root cause of the fascia pain and body wide dysfunction, they have all tried to push Fibro drugs on us, including anti-depressants and non-narcotic neuropathic “pain med” on us, which have NEVER worked.

TRUE… nerve pain is now chronic, but not the root of the problems… it is poor biomechanics that has caused irreversible damage to our entire bodies….

In my case, I have Multiple Sclerosis and both my legs have gone numb and tingling, and most of my left side has also suffered severe sensory deprivation… so my biomechanics have been severely hampered for over 10yr now (since I was 29). I have damaged my feet (broken 6 metatarsals) from stress fractures, ramming my feet into things because I have poor sensory input due to lesions (scars, ) in my spinal cord (Central Nervous System) and in lesions my brain caused by my MS.

Not to mention a car accident that caused mobility issues in my left ankle making my gait even more unstable (for the past 4yrs).

I have Plantar Fibrotosis in both my Plantar Ligaments which cause severe pain and make things even worse for me. The Fibrotosis growths are small but extremely painful for me, even with orthotics.

Orthotics do very little to help me, although they do support my high arches.

The last knuckle on big toe, second and middle toe on my left foot are now all frozen together (totally locked in place) and each toe are now spreading apart from each other to compensate for my staggered gait.

The radiologist who read the X-Ray’s and Nuke Bone scans of my feet and ankles state that these problems are because I’m getting older and it’s normal… BS.

I am in 100% agreement that the majority of my pain throughout my body has been caused by poor & dysfunctional biomechanics, CNS sensory (lack thereof) input, and repeated stress and injury to my feet, etc.

If more doctors would go back to the basics of medicine by diagnosing the root cause of “body-wide dysfunction and pain” (instead of simply prescribing us all BS “Fibro related drugs that do not work for body-wide muscle-skeletal pain then they could focus their energies on trying to solve our feet problems, so that we can all walk with a steady and fluid gait as mother nature intended.

Julie

I will use this site to further educate myself.

Mahalo~ Brandon

Great post – I am looking forward to reading parts 2 and 3.

Very interesting, this reminds me of the “Body Human” exhibit I saw.

I don’t know if that has anything to do with fascia as you’ve described, but I do know that when I’ve had a pain “here” it often is coming from someplace else….over a year ago I could hardly move my right arm and it turned out to be a pinched nerve in my neck. I had to do several sessions at the chiropractor to get that worked out, it was really bad.

I really, though, saw this as going beyond the physical and to the mental/emotional; it started with how I was feeling about my job and manifested in my body.

Thanks for this very informative article, it’s always interesting to learn more about the amazing workings of the physical body.

Can’t wait for part 2!

Philip has given you a great answer but I’ll try and back that up. It could be compartment syndrome, which is often characterized but a weakness in the tibialis anterior, where you are saying you are getting pain. it could also just be an overactive tibialis anterior. Either way my suggestion first and foremost would be to see a specialist, this stuff usually happens from bad biomechanics and you may need insoles/ orthotics in your shoes.

In the meantime do a lot of self massage through that area. The exercises Philip suggested are great too. But if they cause you any pain, stop. If it is a weakness in that muscle it may be whats needed. I suggest start with some self massage and icing after pain. Go from there. Definitely see a specialist though it seems as though you may need some help with your shoes!

If it is compartment syndrome it has a lot to do with fascia. Stretch your hip flexors. They are connected and a lot of people find relief this way.

Cheers.