Calf compartment syndrome

[Shoxx]

Hi I’m suffering from calf compartment syndrome ever since I used tms theory to resolve my pelvic pain which was a whole other story

every time I play sport mainly football around 30 mins in I get the same calf problem in both been recently told it’s calf compartment syndrome has anyone heard of this or had this and can relate it to tms
Don’t really want to have the op as don’t sound that successful it’s to do with the facia and nerves
So I guess my question is can I over come this with the same principles as I been trying loads and don’t seem to work

thanks for your time if you read this

 

[JanAtheCPA]

Hey @Shoxx - I'm sorry to be welcoming you back to the forum after all this time. I just reread some of your history from 2017/2018 and also the male pelvic pain success story you posted in 2018. It appears that you had previous success with TMS symptoms before you joined the forum 2017, AND you mentioned pretty severe OCD which I imagine you've been dealing with most of your life. If you haven't revisited your threads and discussions from back then, they are really good - it might give you a boost to be reminded of what it took back then, and of the excellent support you received, and the excellent support you gave to others!

So now you've got this new, and rather unusual, issue. The only thing I knew about compartment syndrome is the acute version, which is a serious emergency following a traumatic blow (I knew someone around my age, 60+ who was slammed in the leg by a large running dog, and it was really bad). So I looked it up and learned that there is also this chronic version of compartment syndrome, and apparently it can occur without any physical trauma. Doesn't that sound like TMS? Ironically, compartment syndrome is all about muscle tension, and let's remember that muscle tension is EXACTLY what "TMS" refers to! Tension Myositis (eg: muscles) Syndrome!

You are such an experienced TMSer, that your TMS brain had to come up with something new and unusual to try to scare the shit out of you.

Now, because of your experience, maybe you had already figured this out, but I feel like we tend to forget this, and rumor has it that Dr. Sarno himself, in later years, suggested that maybe TMS should refer to "The Mindbody Syndrome", because there are so many different manifestations of TMS - but let's face it - tense muscles alone cause plenty of problems (I'm a fan of deep breathing to relax my diaphragm and gut muscles, for example, which significantly improves my gut complaints when I am consistent).

If the surgery does not have a good success rate, that's a good reason to stay away from it. One of the best "Avoid Surgery" advocates we have right now is Dr. David Hanscom, MD. He's a former back surgeon in Seattle who gave up his surgery practice to concentrate on spreading the word about treating the mind instead of the back. He has many success stories of patients who did his pre-surgery mindbody program and cancelled their surgeries. The program, as well as his book and his web site are all called Back In Control, and I expect that it's quite relevant to chronic compartment syndrome.

I also want to say the following: you've been doing this work, with success, for quite a number of years - and like many other experienced TMSers, the 2020s have brought back your TMS with a vengeance. I can't even count how many "old timers" have returned to the forum recently, after years of successful recovery. I've been hanging out here somewhat regularly since 2011, but much more so in the last few years - because 2020 kicked my butt for sure, and it has felt like an uphill battle ever since, as world dysfunction gets worse every week. I can't even imagine what it must be like to be a parent in these times - I think it would be incredibly frightening, in fact. It's something to consider, because I think it's too easy for our brains to repress this. It is some real existential shit that we have absolutely no control over. And for what it's worth, for anyone who had a difficult childhood, today's out-of-control world dysfunction is probably a perfect recreation of a dysfunctional or even traumatic childhood. Perfect repression material.

Good luck, @Shoxx

~Jan

 

[Shoxx]

Hey thanks for your reply always full into the trap of reassurance
And thanks for what your doing and helping out many of us
Kind regards
Shoxx

 

[Hopefulkiwi]

Hi @Shoxx

I was wondering if you could update on how you are going and any reflections or suggestions you have learnt?

I am on my own journey with chronic compartment syndrome - at least that’s what docs are saying and implying there is nothing but fasciotomy to address it which I am not keen on.

While I had success preciously taking a TMS approach to shoulder pain I am struggling for now with my legs.

Best,
Hopefulkiwi

 

[clarinetpath]

This chronic compartment syndrome sounds like a total load of bullshit. What will these quacks think up next? I really don't know how anybody can take them seriously anymore.

Compartment syndrome is when there is trauma sustained to an extremity, with tearing of muscle, fractures of bones, etc and it all swells up severely within the confines of a few fascial planes. The fascial planes make a compartment that is under pressure. The pressure compresses blood vessels, which greatly reduce or totally block the circulation to that extremity, causing it to die. It's a surgical emergency. The time course is a matter of hours to a few days after the trauma. Again that's trauma like a vehicle runs into you and the bumper smashes your leg. So is your leg gangrenous yet, has it had to be amputated? If not, then it's bullshit.

Insert the usual disclaimers about this is not medical advice. Always consult your healthcare professional for your personal situation, as ChatGPT says.

In all seriousness I've had this exact symptom for brief periods, not recently, and it was along the fascia of my calf muscles. It really was right where one muscle ends and another one begins, along a fascial plane. The material that makes fascia is essentially the same as that which makes tendon. Imagine that. For me this usually came on when running, after I had been upset about something and was trying to shove it down. Typically it would last a few hours and then go away. I always knew what it was. It was always TMS. My attitude to it was the same as I described in the first two paragraphs above. I ignored it, never sought any "care" and it went away. I also wonder how the initial poster is doing.

Your name mentions kiwi. Are you in New Zealand? If so, you might be interested in seeing one of these people:

https://wholeperson.healthcare/about-the-people/ (About the MindBody people)

 

[Hopefulkiwi]

Thanks for the reply @clarinetpath

I am indeed from New Zealand, splitting my time between home and Australia depending on work.

thank you for sharing the link - I have been struggling to find mind body sympathetic healthcare practitioners to consider seeing and am glad to see one of the people on that list is a mind body aware physiotherapist that is in my area.

I have myself overcome chronic shoulder issues years in the making through realisations from learning of TMS and truly believe a lot of issues are misdiagnosed or mistreated with invasive procedures when their true causes are actually elsewhere.

However I want to note for others who may come across this thread that Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome (CECS) is distinct from the Acute Compartment Syndrome you have described, and can be a true physical issue which can cause serious consequences.
Nonetheless it is also an area being discussed in the medical field at the moment as it seems (surprise surprise) that current traditional approaches for diagnosis are not so reliable and that many surgeries (fasciotomies) are unwarranted.

If people are interested in learning more on CECS they can message me and I’m happy to share what I have learnt so far and the literature I have gathered, as well as what signs I have noticed may imply it is or isn’t real / TMS.

I hope the original poster has seen good progress towards feeling better since posting, it does sound like his case may be in the borderline area where it’s possible to be TMS.

 

[clarinetpath]

You're welcome Hopefulkiwi. The New Zealanders I've met have been so nice and friendly. It's no surprise you have TMS there too.

With all respect, I'm going to disagree with what you said. I know about this chronic form of compartment syndrome too, and I'm telling you that it's TMS. No doubt there are a number of physiological changes in this entity. That is the nature of TMS, it's a real physical process. Here's a page from our own NIH:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6537460/ (Chronic exertional compartment syndrome: current management strategies - PMC)

See Table 1. The differential diagnosis. Most of the things on there are plain old TMS.

"Further research also needs to be done to understand why a large portion (approximately 20%) of the patient population does not experience full resolution of symptoms after fasciotomy."

Because they have TMS. Because of the symptom imperative. That's why. I'm sure much greater than 20% actually get some other symptom, but in the study nobody bothered to look past the original symptom.

What I wrote still stands. Show me the gangrenous leg that has been amputated for no other reason than chronic exertional compartment syndrome. As I wrote that I just laughed, you probably could show me a leg that was amputated for this entity due to utter incompetence and ignorance. But that's not enough, I want to see a gangrenous one. Truly, nature is not this stupid. It does not evolve or design an extremity that fails in this fashion.

All kidding aside, I think the difficulty you are having here is a psychological term called resistance. That is why this problem is not going away like your shoulder pain did. You are engaging with this as if it is somehow different, but it is the same. You've probably also been given a lot of nocebos. I sincerely wish you the best of luck.