Still At Lost

AFTER weeks of tests and follow-up check-ups with different doctors which started earlier this month, I'm diagnosed with something called the Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome (CECS). It's an uncommon exercise-induced condition in which increased tissue pressure within a closed muscle compartment compromises blood flow to the muscles and nerves within that compartment, resulting in potential tissue and nerve damage. In simple words, it means that I have to quit running, kickboxing and boot-camping as not to aggravate the condition, which also means a complete change of lifestyle.  

CECS

I'm still at lost here. My only references are my podiatrist and every article I can lay my hands on. This condition is not like a heart-attack where I can share notes with my father-in-law and half the world's population. Not that I'm asking for a cardiovascular condition instead, but this change of lifestyle is not going to be easy. Yesterday, I went swimming as that's considered a low or no impact exercise. I swam like a champion but I still prefer working out on a dry ground, soaking up in salty sweat instead of metallic chlorine. Running and kicking are always more liberating for me, although swimming used to be the exercise of choice at one time. I also have many unanswered questions, which I will have to ask my doctor in the next visit. Like can I wear my heels and jump to rock songs once in a while or go for Thai foot massages as before. Will the numbness ever go away and does it mean that I should never get fat (not that I'm planning on it) because obviously an increased body weight puts more pressure on the legs.


For now, I'm asked to do a simple 4-minute stretching exercise four times a day to ease the tension over the herniated muscle areas. The podiatrist has also prescribed a pair of custom-made orthotics, and surgery is not recommended at this point. Considering that I've always had the herniated muscles on both legs since a kid, one of the aiding factors to the problem in the recent years could be my wrongly prescribed running shoes, which was not meant for a normal feet like mine. He said that I should have used Brooks Glycerine instead of Trance. While it's easy on the knees, my bouncy style of running has been adding pressure to the affected muscles. 


So yes, it's been a hard time but the more I learn about it, the more I understand why I'm required to do some things. Annoyance is when people who know nuts about it come up with deductions. Like when they tell me that my active lifestyle IS the cause of everything because I "exercised too much". Sure,  exercise aided it. But I didn't over do it. Juggling with a few form of exercises I love doesn't mean I've over-exercised. I did the normal one to one-hour-and-half in the gym or parks about three or four days a week. If that is over-doing it, then I should think all professional athletes who run, play football and tennis for a living are bound for it. So, I would not blame it on my choice for an active lifestyle at all and I'd appreciate if others could do the same. And then, there are those who blame it on the food I eat. I mean, W.T.F. I eat well and it's nothing to do with eating. 


Despite all, I'll remember what my doctor has said to me. 
"I think I can make you run again".