What is Compartment Syndrome?
Compartment syndrome or chronic exertional compartment syndrome (CECS) affects the lower leg. The lower leg has four or five compartments made up of different nerves, muscles, tendons, and blood vessels.
Fascia surrounds the compartment and improves contraction effectiveness and separates the muscle from other tissues. When the pressure increases in one or more compartment, nerves or blood vessels become compressed, triggering pain and causing you to lose function.
People who develop compartment syndrome have different anatomy than others, meaning they have an additional fifth compartment in their lower leg with an additional fascia sheathing and the more the sheath extends, the higher the risk is of someone developing compartment syndrome.
Compartment syndrome also develops when fascia thickens due to surgery or chronic inflammatory process, which causes the fascia to lose flexibility. The symptoms of compartment syndrome include:
- Tightness
- Cramping
- Pain
Physiotherapists treat compartment syndrome by utilizing several techniques to restore joint motion, neural tissue mobility, fascia tissue flexibility, resting muscle tensions, muscle length, and neural tissue mobility.
Compartment Syndrome Treatment
- TENS
- Dry needling
- Acupuncture
- Rehabilitation exercises
- Chiropractic and massage therapy
- Manual therapy
Physiotherapists Treat Compartment Syndrome
At Physiomobility, we have a team of qualified professionals who offer specialized treatment for various musculoskeletal conditions. Whether you have a chronic medical condition, such as arthritis, or you have experienced a sports injury, or suffer from dizziness and vertigo our experienced physiotherapists will provide you a personalized treatment, offering you relief from pain and discomfort and enabling you to get back to your usual activities quickly.
Author: Dennis Lee, Chiropractor
