[JGarcia]

Saw my Doc today for the pre operation appointment. I asked him what caused the scarring on the muscle. He told me that the scarring is from the stress syndrome, associated with overuse, it looks like "gristle" (sic?) and follows the same line as the muscle fibers. Scar tissue is not flexible, so it does not exapand when I use the muscles in my leg (run), the pressure in the muscle compartment simply builds up and gets worse as I run, causing severe pain, which only diminishes when the pressure inside the muscle (the fascia covers the muscle, sausage like skin) drops.

So the operation that was performed on the left leg and will also be performed on the right leg, is called a Fascial Release. The incision is made, nerve isolated, scar tissue removed, fascia is cut open, something is cauterized, closed up, and I am sent home.

I asked him about the revovery time. He told me that since the bone was not afflicted (as is common in this type of injury) my recovery time until I can start running again is 4 months. At two months I can use the elliptical trainer, at one month swimming.

The normal recovery time (for me) if the bone had been injured would have been about 9 months. So I am very lucky indeed.

Only 6 more days.