Thread: Anyone ever have any muscle fascia opened up?

This is in my immediate future to relieve pressure on the peroneal nerve in my lower leg? Doc says it's a quick recovery. Anyone else have similar thing done?

did you try active release techniques?

I had all the compartments cut open in my lower leg due to compartment syndrome from a bad break. I can't say how recovery would be if that was my only issue. I had a buddy doing wildfire fighting training and he had to have both of his legs cut due to compartment syndrome caused by running in logging boots. He healed up pretty quickly. Our issues were circulatory, but they both involved cutting open the facia to relieve the pressure.

Sounds like Rolfing would help that. There are aspects of it that really rip apart bound fascia.
It can hurt. But in a good way.

With all the potential risks of surgery, I would take Splat's advice and try other options before getting cut.

Release of the peroneal nerve is an simple procedure. I've worked with a couple of folks who have had this procedure done. I can remember one guy had really bad drop foot prior to surgery. His symptoms were resolved and his strength came back after having the release.

As with anything explore all your options but if you've explore conservative measures and done your research then the surgery is a good option.

Going ahead with this, got hooked up with the best foot guy in PDX. Scheduled it near the end of the season. Hopefully next year I can ski for longer than 3 hrs. The left side flares up too, but less often than the right. If this procedure gets me the results, then I will probably repeat it on the left.

Thanks for all the replies. Can always count on Mag's for good info, and diverse viewpoints.

Just an update, had this done last month. Been working out hard for 2 weeks, cycling, and skied again Saturday. It was amazing. I'm so used to the pain that I pretty much had to figure out how to ski again without it. And now that the right leg pain is gone, the left feels much worse.

Making an appointment for the left ASAP.

Glad you were able to get such immediate relief! Care to describe the location of the pain, which activities/movements set you off, etc?

Originally Posted by auvgeek

Glad you were able to get such immediate relief! Care to describe the location of the pain, which activities/movements set you off, etc?

It would be characterized as a strong deep pain about 2 inches above the ankle bone. Over time there was substantial swelling, and I was also informed that my body had actually built up some fatty deposits to help protect the nerve.
Pretty much anything that caused or required lateral strain set it off. In my case mainly skiing, snowboarding, and hiking. Snowboarding was the worst, and I actually took up skiing because of this issue.

Originally Posted by PhiberAwptik

Snowboarding was the worst, and I actually took up skiing because of this issue.

So there are advantages to exertional compartment syndrome after all....

Final update, both legs were done over the summer. I have 9 days of hard skiing under my belt this winter. My only limitations are my ski fitness at this point. But I have already skied longer days this season than I ever have before. I pretty much need to find an excuse to get off the hill. My skiing is much more powerful, and technique is more fluid because I'm not compensating for pain in my lower legs. My calf shape isn't very sexy, but fuck it, at least I can shred.

Originally Posted by PhiberAwptik

My calf shape isn't very sexy, but fuck it, at least I can shred.

^^^^ most important.

Glad to hear you're doing so well!

For anyone else with similar symptoms, the key is getting the right diagnosis. Gold standard is to actually exercise in the doctor's office and subsequently stick a needle with a pressure gauge into the muscle compartment to document that the pressure becomes excessively elevated with exertion.