From the 9th December 2008... during diagnosis...

I was looking back through some emails today from a while ago and thought I'd share them. My first real flare up of Compartment Syndrome was on 24 August 2008. I had actually been managing it without realising from early in the year, and as I got fitter and competed in more Endurance Rides, it never went away.

The message below is from the 9th December 2008 when I was putting out feelers for others who may have been affected by Compartment Syndrome when horse riding.

By this stage I had tried different saddles, different horses and different riding gear... but the pain was just starting to creep in again after taking it very easy for a number of months.


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Hello all,

I'm writing to see if anyone out there has ever had, or known another rider to have dealt with "Compartment Syndrome" in their anterior (outside-of-leg-bone) muscle of their lower leg?

I have developed what I believe to be Chronic Compartment Syndrome, which came together with a LOT of pain in my legs and I couldn't walk for a number of days after my last 80km ride in late August this year....

My biggest problem is getting a Doctor to believe that I could have this problem, and also, getting them to believe that it could possibly be caused by horse riding!

There are a lot of smaller things which I believe have caused it, the main offender being chapettes which were perhaps too tight and didn't allow my muscle to expand properly... pity they felt really comfortable and kept my legs warm in the cold of winter hey?

Anyway, I've been back riding 3 times per week for a number of weeks now, and I've been legging the horse up gradually... now that we've started to trot a bit, I'm getting the same familiar burning feeling... and a number of the variables I thought were playing a role earlier in the year are now gone.. so I'm at a bit of a loss... I think now I have a residual injury.

So... if anyone can please email me privately (or if you wish to the group, but I'm guessing this is a problem most people here won't have heard of!).... I'd love it if people can make suggestions on what they have done or avoided etc with this problem, and also what others have done to get heard properly by their Dr's!

Thanks in advance people...!

A little bit of history

So I have decided to start this blog to document a little of what I have gone through with my diagnosis, treatment and "winning" (temporarily or permanently yet to be determined) against chronic compartment syndrome. Hopefully it can help others and keep a bit of a record for me in years to come.

I have experienced people telling me I was essentially imagining my symptoms, that I wasn't fit enough (even though I'd been building up to it for months) and every excuse under the sun - both made by me and by others. I've had others try to sympathise with me with their "sore legs" which ache a bit after riding, versus the excruciating pain in my lower legs after riding a horse 70+km after the pain and discomfort began in an Endurance Horse Riding competition.

I will bring you posts from what I have asked others, what I have tried as a result, and how I have now come to be able to run 11km at a time without much of a look-in from my (chronic) compartment syndrome when at one point I had to ice my legs for most of a day after a 6km training ride where I trotted more than a kilometre or two.

If you have questions or comments... feel free to add :)

Me!