[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2025\/01\/cassidys-story\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2025\/01\/cassidys-story\/","headline":"Cassidy\u2019s Story: Compartment Syndrome","name":"Cassidy\u2019s Story: Compartment Syndrome","description":"<p><\/p>","datePublished":"2025-01-06","dateModified":"2025-08-07","author":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.upmc.com\/","name":"UPMC","url":"https:\/\/www.upmc.com\/","sameAs":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/upmc\/","parentOrganization":"UPMC"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"UPMC HealthBeat","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/UPMC-HealthBeat-Logo.png","url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/UPMC-HealthBeat-Logo.png","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2170796681.jpg","url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2170796681.jpg","height":868,"width":1999},"url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2025\/01\/cassidys-story\/","about":["Health Topics A-Z","Sports Medicine"],"wordCount":913,"keywords":["North Central Pa Ortho"],"articleBody":"It was during Cassidy\u2019s high school freshman-year track season that she started experiencing intense shin pain at practices and meets. Pain was unusual for the Elysburg, Pa., athlete, who had been playing sports since she was 5.\u201cMy legs felt like they were going to explode,\u201d says Cassidy, now 21. \u201cIt was shooting pain that would last for days.\u201dHer school\u2019s athletic trainer figured it was a severe case of shin splints and referred her to a physical therapist. There, she spent multiple days a week receiving scraping, cupping, and stretching therapies.\u201cI was trying everything I could \u2014 icing and ice baths, pain medicine, wearing contraptions on my feet for a few hours a night, using crutches and a boot \u2014 but nothing was making the pain go away.\u201dCassidy started missing track practices and had trouble walking for days after meets. When her sophomore fall soccer season began, she endured intense pain every day while still getting treated for an erroneous shin splint diagnosis. The pain forced her to miss school dances and snowboarding season.By spring of her sophomore year in 2021, COVID had shut down sports and Cassidy\u2019s shins finally got some relief \u2014 until her junior-year soccer season began the following fall.\u201cAt this point, it was getting so bad that my mom and I agreed we needed to try something else,\u201d Cassidy said.An Hour\u2019s Travel for AnswersA friend\u2019s dad mentioned foot and ankle surgeon Zachary Ritter, DPM, at UPMC Williamsport. That winter, Cassidy traveled over an hour to find that shin splints were not her problem.\u201cAt the very first meeting, Dr. Ritter thought it could be exercise-induced compartment syndrome, which was the first time I\u2019d ever heard of the condition,\u201d she said. Her case wasn\u2019t a textbook version of compartment syndrome. But a painful test that included long needles to measure the leg muscles confirmed this diagnosis \u2014 and its severity.Doctors describe compartment syndrome as increased pressure inside the leg muscles, reducing blood flow and causing pain. Symptoms can include:Burning or aching pain in the lower leg muscles.Leg muscles bulging or swelling.Weakness or numbness in the legs.For people whose story is similar to Cassidy\u2019s, a fasciotomy is necessary. Fascia is the tough connective tissue that wraps around your muscles. In fasciotomy surgery, doctors make cuts in the fascia to relieve pressure in the muscles.Compartment syndrome is very rare. It occurs in fewer than 10 of every 100,000 people in the United States.With proper treatment and care, a full recovery and pain-free life is possible.A Life-Changing DayBefore long, Cassidy had scheduled her fasciotomies.\u201cI was scared because the only option for me was surgery on both legs, but I was more relieved to finally have some answers and a path to health,\u201d Cassidy said. \u201cThat day changed my life forever.\u201dIn January 2021, within a few weeks of each other, Dr. Ritter performed two minimally invasive surgeries to cut the fascia in Cassidy\u2019s four leg muscles. This left two small scars on either side of her legs.She went home the same day after both surgeries. By March, thanks to recovery time and physical therapy, she was running pain-free.\u201cIt was insane that I got to do the surgeries between sports seasons and that I was able to meet Dr. Ritter, be diagnosed, have both surgeries, recover, and be running all in the span of five months,\u201d she marvels.And run she did, setting a personal record in the 400-meter event during her junior track season. That feat got her an invite to join the Slippery Rock University track team for college.But running a stellar track season wasn\u2019t her only post-surgery accomplishment: \u201cMy senior year continued the comeback story of a lifetime,\u201d she says.A Three-Sport Comeback StoryCassidy practiced and competed in every one of her senior-year soccer games, going all the way to states and winning the championship with her team.Only a few months later, she found herself back on the state stage with her basketball team for the first time in her school&#8217;s history, placing second.Another track season rounded out her three-sport senior year, and Cassidy finished high school with a commitment to the Slippery Rock track team.And though she doesn\u2019t run track at Slippery Rock anymore, she will always treasure her time playing sports in high school and practicing with a D2 sports team, thanks to her care at UPMC.\u201cI will forever be thankful for Dr. Ritter and will tell my kids these stories one day,\u201d she says. \u201cThe entire team at UPMC dug into the deepest depths to figure out my diagnosis, and Dr. Ritter always made me feel seen and heard. He changed my life and gave me back sports!\u201dCassidy remembers with some difficulty the time when the pain from compartment syndrome took up so much of her life.\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to remember those times because they were so hard and painful, but they made me stronger and I wouldn\u2019t be me without them,\u201d she says. \u201cPlus, those experiences led me to Slippery Rock, where I have a great apartment, great friends, and love my major.\u201dAnd though it&#8217;s a different experience than D2 sports or winning the championship game, Cassidy still loves running around the soccer field with her intramural team at school.\u201cI was given my life back, and I can thank Dr. Ritter for that!\u201dSources"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2025","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2025\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"01","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2025\/\/01\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Cassidy\u2019s Story: Compartment Syndrome","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2025\/01\/cassidys-story\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]