This condition causes pain in the leg brought on by running and is relieved by rest.  This phenomenon occurs when an exercising muscle cannot receive the necessary increased blood flow because it is confined to an abnormally tight space. The results and increased pressure in the compartment collapses the blood vessels and prevents the blood from arriving to the exercising muscle. This results in a lack of oxygen, called ischemia, which is painful. The patient is forced to then stop exercising because of the pain, but demand for increased blood flow subsides. Blood flow then returns to the compartment as the pressure lessons and the ischemia is resolved, thereby causing the pain to subside. The diagnosis of this condition is a clinical one and can be confirmed by measuring the pressure in the compartment. Often surgery is required to release the tight tissues confining the muscle. This procedure is curative.  In some cases, compartment syndrome can be a rare cause of “shin splints.”