Burning pain in both calves

Question

I have inherited RLS.  Would it be likely that burning constant pain in both leg calves be a symptom of RLS?  What can be done to relieve this pain?

mrebooks · Accepted Answer

I have inherited RLS. Would it be likely that burning constant pain in both leg calves be a symptom of RLS? What can be done to relieve this pain? More likely a cardiovascular problem, a lack of sufficient oxygen being supplied to your lower legs, "PAD"...

Anonymous · Answer

Your symptoms may be similar to what I went through about 4-5 years ago. In my case, the burning pain set in 3-6 hours after walking, not during walking, and then slowly subsided after 8-12 hours of rest. More commonly seen vascular problems, such as claudication, cause pain during walking and the pain then goes away after walking. My course of pain was different. But the MD's suspected claudication anyways and did a full doppler study on me. The circulation was fine with no vascular problems. I then had a series of neural conduction tests (not fun) and spine imaging. Both were negative. Since the problem was getting progressively worse, with severe bilateral burning pain after leg use, e.g. walking or swimming, I saw all kinds of specialists looking for a diagnosis.Finally, after everything else was ruled out, I checked the literature and went to a well-known leg and foot surgeon and asked if I possibly had chronic posterior compartment syndrome in both my calves. He said he hadn't seen chronic cases before (acute cases, from trauma, are more common) but suggested that a fasciotomy was easy enough for him to do. At wit's end, and in severe pain, I agreed, and after recovering (about 6 weeks in walking casts), the burning pain was gone. So I indeed had chronic posterior compartment syndrome in both my calves.So if the burning pain you have in your calves happens a few hours after use and not during use, I'd suspect chronic posterior compartment syndrome. It's rare so most MD's won't immediately check for it, but I heard compartment pressure testing can be done.But my pain is now just starting to come back (the muscle fascia must grow back) and I expect I'll need a fasciotomy again in a year or 2.

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