Sacroiliac - 4 years of pain

[steve jones]

I apologise for the length of this thread but if anyone has the patience to read it and help me I would be in your debt!

I am 24 years old and for the past 4 years I have suffered with a pain near the sacroiliac area. I originally had it on my left side and for the first year it switched from left to right several times. However, for the past 2 years I have had an 'aching' pain on the right side and when aggrevated, I get a sharp (local) pain when I stand up from sitting down or from any form of impact (e.g. running).
I work in an office all day so the sitting down seems to make the ligament stiff and I usually end up limping for the first hour after work until I get chance to walk round and loosen it - the same applies to when I wake up in the morning. However, I never seem able to rid myself of this pain or ache - I have had an MRI scan and an x-ray and they say the disks appear fine. I do not have sacro-iliitis and I have tried many strengthening exercises but none of them seem strengthen the troubled area and I have not been able to run for the past 3 years.
The one ray of light I have is that the aching I experience does respond to massaging, lying down on my stomach or taking anti-inflammatory tablets but these are just a short lived relief - I can't find any exercises or work routine which will help to 'toughen' up my troubled area. I believe an exercise routine is the answer but everyone reccomends the standard 'stability' exercises, e.g. knee pull-ups, hip rotation, swimming, and leg lifts (lying on the stomach) but none have helped. I do use two which seem to stretch the ligaments and they are hamstring stretches and pelvic lifts (from lying down) but these are not enough to rid the problem.

I have waffled on but any advice would be greatly appreciated,

Many Thanks,

Steve.

[Robmar65]

Hello all you sacro illiac sufferers out there! I have been healing people with this condition for 5 yrs now. I have read so many of your posts and have not seen any mention of dietary changes or supplementation whatsoever. I have had many people like yourself
come to my office to be healed from this dysfunction. I would highly reccomend eating foods high in Omega 3 fatty oils such as sardines ,salmon and other fatty fish. Exercise
and weight control are also important factors in reducing or reversing the dysfunction.
I currently presribe the following supplements to my patients with great sucess!
Along with moderate exercise and a healthy diet consisting of dark green veggies and
fish I reccomend : MSM 1000mg 2 times per day with meals.
Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega fish oils 2 capsules 3 x a day
B Complex 50 mg 3x a day
Vitamin C 500 mg , 1 or 2 a day.
NAG by Source naturals (Glocousamine) 1 tab 2 x a day
calcium magnesium and zine complex, 2 casules 2 x a day
(chelated mineral complex for healthy joint function)

Along with a positive attitude ,exercise and faith in yourself to heal you can do it!
It truly works if you give it time and effort. many dr's today want to prescribe
anti inflamtorys which only dampen or hinder the immune system in many ways.
Fighting any type of inflamation in the body begins with diet and nutrition. I hope this helps
some of you.

[Hipster]

hi Steve

Definitely agree that some of the ideas re: nutrition can assist the body's healing processes. However from the short description of your problem, it definitely sounds like mechanical irritation causing overload of structures around your SIJ giving inflammatory symptoms.

Treatment for this problem must be very specific and requires detailed assessment of the biomechanics of lumbar spine, pelvis, hip and lower limbs to see where the inefficiency is occuring. "Core Stability" is the laymans term for what you need to work on. I may be wrong but going by what you've said so far your treatment hasn't been specific enough.

Most of my patients with SIJ problems go through an intensive process of motor control retraining, where we improve the biomechanics from the intrapelvic musculature which holds the pelvis together under load (which increases the force closure of the SIJ) all the way to more complex functional stability movements which are required for running.

It's not easy or quick and you need an experienced musculoskeletal or sports physiotherapist to walk you through the process. If your in Australia check out the APA website (www.physiotherapy.asn.au) or find yourself a physio in your area who teaches Clinical Pilates.

Other treatment options that can help in more chronic conditions are prolotherapy and specific SI nerve blocking injections. Checkout www.metrospinal.com.au for some intereting FAQ sheets.

Cheers
Hipster