"Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You'll learn from them—if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn't education. It's history. It's poetry."
What is "Popliteal Artery Entrapment Syndrome" you ask? So did I.
I first heard this term in May, 2013, when I got my MRI results back and those were the findings. When you Google it, there is surprisingly not a lot of information. Correction: There is a good amount of clinical information and definitions and such, but I have yet to find a good first person account from someone who actually experienced it. Being the internet and all, I expected a lot more out of it.
Here is what I have learned on the topic; please don't mind the excessive copy/paste.
Popliteal artery entrapment syndrome (PAES) refers to symptomatic compression or occlusion of the popliteal artery due to a developmentally abnormal relationship with the medial head of gastrocnemius (MHG) or less commonly with popliteus.
Translation: The popliteal artery (one of two arteries that feed your lower legs) becomes entrapped within the muscles of the back of your leg. Over time, the artery does not bounce back and becomes occluded (closed up).
What is feels like: It can be hard to describe the symptoms of this condition but one of the best ways I've found is that it feels like a tourniquet being tightened around your leg with each step. Also, your leg becomes very "tired" and the longer you walk, the more you lose normal gait and start to limp. It causes numbness and pins and needles in the feet as well.
I wanted to start this blog so that maybe someday some other desperate person would stumble across this in their futile search on the condition and be given a glimmer of hope. A lot has happened to my body since symptoms first started (2008) and I think it is important to contribute to the dialogue on a topic that is woefully under-represented.
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