I am new to the site and therefore I have not read all the blogs. Perhaps someone has discussed this before but I have extreme pain whenever I walk for any length of time. I get this "banding type" pulling sensation in the back of my neck, my shoulers and of all places in my hands. The tops of my feet experience the most pain. I have Hereditary Hemochromatosis and while my iron related levels are currently normal I have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia.

I can swim, lift light weights and ride a bicycle and not get the debilitating pain that I get after walking. Needless to say the pain exhausts me and I end up with incredible brain fog.

Can anyone explain the physiology behind this response I get from walking?

Thanks

Most ppl have one leg shorter than the other. My dad's Army training taught them that without a compass, everyone walk in a circle because of this. My right leg is 3/8" shorter, so my neck is strained and hip is tilted. I wear a heel lift to compensate. A Bone&Joint specialist recognized it whereas the chiropractor didn't see it on an Xray. He used the chiropractor's Xrays.

Elevated Iron Levels can cause celluar damage:
elevated transferrin saturation;
elevated serum ferritin;
elevated transaminase; or
elevated blood glucose.
Evaluation for other causes of these medical problems should also be performed.

Biochemical Tests for Hemochromatosis

The simplest tests that indirectly indicate iron overloading are serum iron and iron-binding capacity, which allows calculation of percent transferrin saturation. Serum ferritin correlates well with iron stores, but its normal value rises with age and varies with gender. Serum ferritin can also be elevated with liver disease, inflammation, and neoplasm.

Biochemical tests include the following:
serum iron;
total iron-binding capacity;
unsaturated iron-binding capacity;
transferrin saturation (TS) [preferably measured on a fasting specimen]; and
serum ferritin (SF).
http://www.bing.com/health/article.aspx ... hromatosis

The pain you describe could eminate from a pinched nerve at the C6-C7 vertebrae in the neck. The neck has 7 vertebrae, C1 at the top through C7 at the shoulders, called the cervical part of the spinal column. The root cause could be carrying something heavy on the same shoulder each day: heavy purse, book bag...in which case alternate shoulders: MWF Left side, TRS right side.

A shorter leg could also cause the column to develop some curvature the your system tries to keep the "stack of blocks" ie vertebrae, upright.

A displaced vertebrae can be discovered by another person simply standing behind you and pressing the left and right side of the cervical section. It can be felt out of place and the pain / relief can be had by pressing the right way.

Thank you for this information. Howeverm if I had a pinched nerve would it not bother me at all times as opposed to just after I have walked for over 40 mins. I can lift weights swim and cycle without getting this pain.

Lifting weights puts pressure on the spinal column from the Thoriac down to the lumbar sections. No pressure is applied to the cervical.

Bicycling positions only cause the neck to lean backwards.

A pinched nerve at C7 would cause pain at the lower arms, hands.
C6 is shoulders and neck. Here's a good Gray's Anatomy diagram:
http://www.potiskchiropractic.com/spina ... gnment.htm

If I had a pinched nerve wouldnt I feel it all the time. My pain only occurs after walking for about 45 minutes

The following link gives very good information. It may even be helpful to determine if you're wearing the appropriate walking/running shoe, aligning your body correctly(gait analysis), the type of surface where you are walking/running, etc.

http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/

You may want to check with your physician, or ask for an orthopaedic evaluation.

LadyE