I've battled chronic anterior compartment syndrome for about 20 years. Basic cause is tight hamstrings and gastrocs that overwork the muscles at the front of the shin. I don't remember the dorsi-flexion yada yada, but basically with each stride the effort needed to lift the toes back up is compounded by the tension in the calves and hamstrings. That causes the shin muscles to expand faster than the sheath that they are encased in can accomodate. That quickly cuts off the circulation to the shin muscles. Eventually, my shins go numb, feet go numb and have to stop.
Prevention. Stretch regularly. Run REAL slow during the first couple miles to allow the sheath to expand as the shin muscles expand. Once you've triggered an episode, its generally going to be hard to be able to run AT ALL for about an hour or so. I assume the same approach may be applied to posterior compartment syndrome.
When I finally had it diagnosed by an excellent sports medicine doctor many years ago, it was about a $1,500 procedure to slit the sheaths. As an amateur runner, I could hardly justify that. He said perhaps 30 to 40% of elite runners eventually have the procedure, but that seems high in my experience. But then again, I don't exactly hang with elite runners that much.
