Compartment Pressure Test

I had the pressure test done on my leg, to test for compartment syndrome. It wasn’t the most favorite day I’ve ever had. Lots of needle pokes. It was a few weeks ago and I still have small marks/scabs where they jabbed me. The needles were big and I must be a good bleeder because I had to come home and wash my shoes and socks. It ran right down. Yuck!

After the initial (resting) pressure readings, I ran 4 miles on the office treadmill. They kept coming in to monitor my leg pain. They wanted me to get off the treadmill when my pain reached a 9 out of 10. The evenness of the treadmill didn’t lend as well to creating pain. So it took longer than it would have if I was outside on uneven ground. I never did get to a 9, but they had me stop anyway. I would say my pain was at a 7. They stuck the needle pressure gage into the same 4 compartments and retested the pressures. Everything was normal. My resting pressures weren’t too elevated and my post exertion pressures were only slightly higher. Meaning, muscle pressure isn’t what is causing my pain.

While I don’t want something to be wrong with me, I was really bummed that we didn’t find the problem. This means we still don’t know why my leg hurts when I run or do other high impact exercises. My doctor says that my calf muscles are large, in comparison to the rest of my body frame. He is going to send my MRI to a doctor in Salt Lake who specializes in people with extra muscle length. He wonders if this may be something to look into, but it’s not his specialty. He said he will get back to me after he collaborates with the other doctor. If the other doc thinks this may be the problem, we would look into surgery to remove part of the muscle. I don’t have many details about this and will wait to hear.