Since there are a few comments still, here’s my experience:

I had anterior CS in high school and extremely tight calves. Everywhere in my lower leg was tender and tight. My shin muscles were pretty jacked and my calves nonexistent. This was early 2000s, so no one recommended these particular gait changes. I had surgery but ultimately stopped running. I regret the surgery. I still have CS symptoms.

I have a twin sister who never had CS. She has a naturally bounding gait and definitely tends toward more mid or forefoot landing. I was a heavy heel striker. With pain I did slow down and land more on the midfoot, but by then the pain was pretty set in.

About a year prior to the CECS, I had major abdominal surgery and my body alignment completely changed. I began curling my pelvis forward against the painful scar tissue. This locked up my hips and butt, and tightened all down the outside of my legs. No wonder I was such a heel striker.

I’d like to run again but my body is so locked up I need some huge PT but don’t know where to start.

Tara – is your issue in just the anterior compartment? If so, may really be worth considering trying gait change and maybe a zero drop shoe to see if it might resolve the problem and help you avoid surgery. What part of the country do you live in? There are folks around who specialize in gait retraining and I might be able to provide a suggestion.

Depends on what you are running in now and what the specific problem is. Newtons tend to be lower drop than most shoes and this can actually put more stress on the calf.

Is the compartment syndrome only on the front of the shin? If you just have tight calves and not compartment syndrome in the back as well then moving to a shoe with a lower heel and working on form (moderating heel strike if you tend to do that) might be a worthwhile approach, maybe in association with some foam rolling of the calves. Definitely something to do under guidance of your PT though in case problems crop op – there can be some transition risk with form change.

Is the compartment syndrome only on the front of the shin? If you just have tight calves and not compartment syndrome in the back as well then moving to a shoe with a lower heel and working on form (moerating heel strike if you tend to do that) might be a worthwhile approach, maybe in association with some foam rolling of the calves. Definitely something to do under guidance of your PT though in case problems crop op – there can be some transition risk with form change.

Yes that is exactly the region. I run in Asics GT-2000 but used to run in Asics Gel Nimbus.

In the spot indicated by the arrow here: http://www.painfreefeet.ca/site/ywd_painfreefeet/assets/images/Tibialis_anterior_muscle.jpg ?

What shoes do you run in?

It is the upper muscle right next to the shin bone on the outisde, along with tight calves. They did videotape me and I am a slight overpronator.

Which part of your leg is giving you the trouble? Problem with CECS is if your form is causing the muscles to work in such a way that the compartment continues to swell it’s unlikely to resolve if you just run through it. Did the PT video your running form?