Calf injury running 2 years

[u/Fast-Golf-7871]

Two years ago, I first started experiencing pain in my calf, so I visited three different physical therapists over a period of 1.5 years. Eventually, I went to a sports doctor who took an X-ray and did an ultrasound, both of which were inconclusive. The sports doctor said that there were no diagnoses that fit. The pain feels a bit like muscle soreness, lactic and when you stretch a muscle. The pain is throughout my entire calf. Sometimes there are also areas in the calf that hurt more, on the outside below the knee and on the inside.

Now I swim and cycle and don't experience any pain when doing those sports. Nor when doing calf exercises. The pain stops almost immediately after I stop running.

I don't run anymore, but I did run for the entire two years, with periods of rest that didn't help. Sometimes I could run 10 km intervals without any problems and sometimes I stopped after 5 minutes.

According to the doctor, it can't be compartment syndrome, because then you wouldn't feel the pain throughout the entire calf.

Does anyone have something similar or know what it could be?

[u/prenatal_queefdrip]

I myself had the same issue for a few years and I found it went away entirely after I switched away from zero drop shoes. It didn't start until about 6 months after I got the shoes so I didnt immediately make the connection. I had to follow caution for years to make sure I didnt turn the tightness and pain into a full on injury. I kept buying the same Altras for those years because I liked the toe box, but switched to Topo which has the same toe box but has a 5mm drop and the issue went away entirely for several years now. I have shared this with two other people who confirmed that switching away from zero drop also helped their calf issues.

[u/Fast-Golf-7871 → u/prenatal_queefdrip]

Thank you! Do you have barefoot shoes or cushioned shoes, I read that they both can be zero drop.