Burning/tight calves

[PeterH110]

Hi,


My exercise background
I was pretty active as a kid. I played just school and club sports from 5 years old to 8 years old (average of 3.5 sessions a week in winter over this time), school/club/representative from 9 years old to 10 years old (5 session a week in winter), club/representative from 11 years old to 13 years old (4 sessions a week in winter) and school/representative from 14 years old to 18 years old (6 sessions a week for 7 months of the year – INTENSITY INCREASES QUITE A BIT).


What happened
Before my penultimate season I started training 4 times a week + 1 team practice. Before my final season I started training 6 times a week (Run, Gym, Speed training, Gym then repeat). Both times I hadn’t done any training since the last game (6 months in the first case, 3 in the second). In the second case, after 3 weeks my calves started burning when going for runs. Not burning that I had to stop, but really tight.

The first time I went for a run I jogged for 20 minutes, 2nd time: 300m jog/100m run e.t.c. By the 5th time I got up to 100m jog/300m run for 35 minutes when the burning started. I would be fine for the first 4 laps then it would set in. I would stop (the burning wasn’t so bad I had to stop, but it still hurt) for one lap time then go again. This time after 3 laps it would set in. I would stop for two laps time then go again e.t.c. The burning would go away five minutes after finishing. It only happens when I go for runs, not at gym/speed training/practice/games.


Useful info/My injury history
Warmed up and down and stretched properly. Had a shower straight away after coming home. I ate and drank properly. The burning was in my calf muscle (gastrocnemius, not really my shins or achilles. I strained my calf 1½ years before this started and also 6 months after. Both times I was only out for 3 days, also they were quite painful when they happened. I have a history of leg strains also: Hamstring (twice) and Groin (twice).

Three of them happened in the last 3 of my seasons and each time I was out for a month. The other one happened when I was 11 and I was only out for a week. Both of the hamstring ones were because I didn’t stretch properly (if I don’t I am almost guaranteed to get injured). I have also tweaked my hamstring twice and hip flexor once in my last 2 seasons – play through ‘injuries’. I’m quite small built and my calves are tiny (13 inches), but my quads are quite strong.


Question
What are the chances I have compartment syndrome?


Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

[Paxiled]

I've been a sports fan all my life, and lots of athletes even on the professional stage despite the best care have certain weaknesses in their bodies.  Given your intense exercise and seriousness about it, I'd suggest you need to get this looked at by professionals if you haven't already done so to see if there's some fundamental problem going on.  

[gymdandee]

Have you been checked to see if you have damage to your peripheral nervous system? That can be caused by injuries. Are you doing dynamic stretches?
If you are, do between 15 and 20 repetitions of the stretch, trying to increase the range of motion with each repetition. Your heel and toes should come in contact with the pavement with equal amounts of force; putting more pressure on the forefoot and less pressure on the heel can cause calf strains.
How about wearing shoe lifts in the heel area of your shoe if tight calves are the source of your pain while running. You can buy them at any sport shop it keeps your calf in a stretched position while you run.
It's also best to run on a flat surface.