Sacroiliac(SI) joint dysfunction

[escholar05]

Hey all,

So for the last month or so I've had pretty decent pain in my left buttock/tailbone area. I went to a chiropractor, who said it was SI joint dysfunction. He has been adjusting it for the last 3 weeks, but I dont see too much of an improvement, although there has been some. I went to a GP, and he confirmed the same diagnosis, but he basically said rest it for 2 weeks and just wanted to give me painkillers/nsaids to help with the pain.

I did take 2 weeks off, really to no avail. Since I've been back (10-14 days), I've avoided squats completely, and most bent over exercises. I've been working hard on flexibility, particularly in my quads, hams, and glutes, stretching for at least 3 sessions of 10 minutes a day.

My ultimate goal is to re-stabilize that joint, and get rid of the pain so I can get back to business as usual. I've read that pilates can help, but have been unable to find any kind of resource that would suggest the right exercises for such a thing.

I'm sure someone else has had this problem, or had clients/patients with this problem, so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

[escholar05]

bump

[escholar05]

nobody?

[WibbleWabble]

r u sure it's not a herniated disc? if so, why?

[escholar05]

I've had x-rays, and everything looks normal in that respect(i realize discs aren't visible on x-ray). Both my MD and DC agree that a herniated disk is too far of an outside possibility to undergo the expense of an MRI

[Fresch]

Hey all,

So for the last month or so I've had pretty decent pain in my left buttock/tailbone area. I went to a chiropractor, who said it was SI joint dysfunction. He has been adjusting it for the last 3 weeks, but I dont see too much of an improvement, although there has been some. I went to a GP, and he confirmed the same diagnosis, but he basically said rest it for 2 weeks and just wanted to give me painkillers/nsaids to help with the pain.

I did take 2 weeks off, really to no avail. Since I've been back (10-14 days), I've avoided squats completely, and most bent over exercises. I've been working hard on flexibility, particularly in my quads, hams, and glutes, stretching for at least 3 sessions of 10 minutes a day.

My ultimate goal is to re-stabilize that joint, and get rid of the pain so I can get back to business as usual. I've read that pilates can help, but have been unable to find any kind of resource that would suggest the right exercises for such a thing.

I'm sure someone else has had this problem, or had clients/patients with this problem, so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Would need for information on the exact nature of the diagnosis: is it a strained SIJ or an unstable SIJ?

What exercises has the chiro given you to stabilise the joint if that is the case?

[escholar05]

Would need for information on the exact nature of the diagnosis: is it a strained SIJ or an unstable SIJ?

What exercises has the chiro given you to stabilise the joint if that is the case?

Strained SI. He just told me to work on my hamstring and quad flexibiliity.

[rivet0r]

Hey all,

So for the last month or so I've had pretty decent pain in my left buttock/tailbone area. I went to a chiropractor, who said it was SI joint dysfunction. He has been adjusting it for the last 3 weeks, but I dont see too much of an improvement, although there has been some. I went to a GP, and he confirmed the same diagnosis, but he basically said rest it for 2 weeks and just wanted to give me painkillers/nsaids to help with the pain.

I did take 2 weeks off, really to no avail. Since I've been back (10-14 days), I've avoided squats completely, and most bent over exercises. I've been working hard on flexibility, particularly in my quads, hams, and glutes, stretching for at least 3 sessions of 10 minutes a day.

My ultimate goal is to re-stabilize that joint, and get rid of the pain so I can get back to business as usual. I've read that pilates can help, but have been unable to find any kind of resource that would suggest the right exercises for such a thing.

I'm sure someone else has had this problem, or had clients/patients with this problem, so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

http://www.kalindra.com/rounds.pdf

Hope this helps.

[escholar05]

http://www.kalindra.com/rounds.pdf

Hope this helps.

Thank you so much.

[rivet0r]

Thank you so much.

Make sure you read the whole thing to get a better understanding of what you're actually doing before jumping into the corrective exercises. Oh, and reps would be appreciated!

[BIGNFIT]

I am dealing with the same problem, I believe I messed it while trying to get back to an old deadlift PR. I did pilates, physiotherapy, heating, for months, even stepped out the gym for 16 months, to rehab it, and stil the same. I even feel some type of stiffness/swelling right above the right side of the lower back, I suspect the origin of this is the SI.

[Fresch]

http://www.kalindra.com/rounds.pdf

Hope this helps.

Crap article, don't know how it ended up in a journal like that!

So many errors in there it is not funny.

[cjpatterson1]

Wow, I finally found someone else as well! I am no physician, but I am constantly researching the same problem. I am a personal trainer and I love to weight train, only to be side-lined by a hypomobile SI joint on my right side probable every few months (but I also teach classes anddon't recover as much -that is also KEY!). Your doctor could translate whether or not your "strained" SI is hypermobile (unstable) or hypomobile (fixed, "stuck" usually due to scar tissue). I promise you that finding out which one of these you are, is the first step in fighting your pain vigillantly instead of just stretching and guessing. There is exact rehabilitative steps to each, and I would imagine anatomically treating a hypermobile joint by stretching if it is in fact hypomobile instead, could make it worse because the instability in the pelvis is due to lax muscles and ligaments that need strength more than flexibility! So see you want to find out exactly where you are on the map to locate your destination....I hope this helps your journey. Glad to see someone else on here talking about this, it affects all of my lower body training. Please let me know any interesting facts tha you find out about it that may help me out as well

God Bless,
Julie

PS: Viktor Frankl changed my life!

Hey all,

So for the last month or so I've had pretty decent pain in my left buttock/tailbone area. I went to a chiropractor, who said it was SI joint dysfunction. He has been adjusting it for the last 3 weeks, but I dont see too much of an improvement, although there has been some. I went to a GP, and he confirmed the same diagnosis, but he basically said rest it for 2 weeks and just wanted to give me painkillers/nsaids to help with the pain.

I did take 2 weeks off, really to no avail. Since I've been back (10-14 days), I've avoided squats completely, and most bent over exercises. I've been working hard on flexibility, particularly in my quads, hams, and glutes, stretching for at least 3 sessions of 10 minutes a day.

My ultimate goal is to re-stabilize that joint, and get rid of the pain so I can get back to business as usual. I've read that pilates can help, but have been unable to find any kind of resource that would suggest the right exercises for such a thing.

I'm sure someone else has had this problem, or had clients/patients with this problem, so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Logical95]

If I were you I would try and go ahead and get the MRI of your lower back to see exactly what the cause is.....X-Rays dont really show much except bone/vertebrae....they dont show the discs, nerves, muscles, inflammation or soft tissues.....so you will never really pinpoint the problem unless you get the MRI....

If it is an inflamed/strained SI joint, that wouldnt show up on an X-Ray....

Case in point.....hurt my shoulder playing football last year....went to an ortho, got x-rays which were negative and he said its prob just inflammation/bursitis.....a month or two later i still had pain, so i told him I WANT the MRI and to write me a damn perscription for it.....and he did.....turns out I had a partially torn labrum (SLAP tear Grade 1.....)

So if you have insurance, I would tell your doc you really want it bc its still bothering you...

[escholar05]

If I were you I would try and go ahead and get the MRI of your lower back to see exactly what the cause is.....X-Rays dont really show much except bone/vertebrae....they dont show the discs, nerves, muscles, inflammation or soft tissues.....so you will never really pinpoint the problem unless you get the MRI....

If it is an inflamed/strained SI joint, that wouldnt show up on an X-Ray....

Case in point.....hurt my shoulder playing football last year....went to an ortho, got x-rays which were negative and he said its prob just inflammation/bursitis.....a month or two later i still had pain, so i told him I WANT the MRI and to write me a damn perscription for it.....and he did.....turns out I had a partially torn labrum (SLAP tear Grade 1.....)

So if you have insurance, I would tell your doc you really want it bc its still bothering you...

cjpatterson, check your pm's.

And after resting it for the last 2 weeks, I've actually lifted on it (lightly at first) with zero pain and stiffness all week. I think it was indeed just an acute sprain/strain, and I will watch it more closely from here on out.

[WibbleWabble]

^ great to hear!

[NJL52]

Have the same problem, at least I believe. Hypomobile SI joint. Keep us up to date with findings!

[escholar05]

Well, after almost two months of no squatting, or anything other than light-ish leg press....I finally squatted again tonight, and that was the one exercise that hurt me the most. I'm happy to say I had zero pain, and zero stiffness, really zero anything except burning quads, haha. 225x15, 245x15, 275x12, 275x12...I was happy. Hopefully it keeps feeling good with more attention to flexibility.

[Coatesmdx]

Well, after almost two months of no squatting, or anything other than light-ish leg press....I finally squatted again tonight, and that was the one exercise that hurt me the most. I'm happy to say I had zero pain, and zero stiffness, really zero anything except burning quads, haha. 225x15, 245x15, 275x12, 275x12...I was happy. Hopefully it keeps feeling good with more attention to flexibility.

While you were recovering did you train much upper body?