Sacroiliac Joint and Glute problems

[anmol_khanna]

Looks like you have found the right physio. Did they refer to chiro as well?

My hips are playing up now. Its worse when I climb stairs and can barely walk. ( and I am not even 30). Infact not long ago I was as fit am more chiseled like any footballer. Never had an accident or an injury . I am sure that this is because of unstable pelvis, torn core and poor alignment.

TIP: I read that when walking we should be thinking about pushing leg using glutes and not pulling using quads. That explains why most of us weak glutes. We don't use them in day to day life and use quad/hip flexors instead.

[bess]

You sound like me, I used to be so in shape and fit, and that was the hardest part. Letting go of who i used to be and accepting my situation for what it is and working with it until Im better, and not fighting the injury to a point I was making it worse. Nobody really cares or notices how toned you are besides you, and weight can be controlled by healthy eating until exercise can increase again.

Hills are def harder for me, stairs not so bad. But six months ago I couldnt even walk. I felt like a baby with my leg wobbling with every attmept to walk. My physio taught me to lean back onto heals more and tilt the pelvis or tuck the bottom under so the glutes engage. And when I walk I take smaller steps going from heal to toe, so again the glutes engage. Prior to that I was carrying my leg over to avoid using the glutes altogether. It was more difficult to walk correctly at first but that was becuase my body wasnt used to standing or walking correctly. I think a physio can show you correctly compared to how I explain it. I had physios that didnt even check to basic things out and they are the foundations. I think sports physios are better.

I found my own chiro, and a physio that looks at hip muscle function, and by word of mouth got onto a thing called finch therapy to get my alignement right, it really made a difference - but I only think there is one person in VIC who does it, and im not sure if they are any good. Sadly though you have to shop around to get the right help. I also believe not one person has the exact same injury or syptoms as we are all individual and go about our own ways to protect our body from hurting. But panic can make it worse, and not being able to wait or just hoping for a wonder cure to fix you overnight will get you nowhere. The only way to get better is to talk to people to get emotional support and tips on what works for them. Doing sensible retraining and not overdoing it, and using your gut instinct when it comes to chosing physios etc.

[bess]

The other thing is... Im not sure how early on you are into the injury. In the beginning everything was going wrong for me, I lost my musles, I couldnt stay awake, my bursa was inflamed, my legs were getting pins and needles, muscles that felt like they had a heart beat the pain was so strong, I couldnt stand for long, drive, sleep. Nobody could explain what was going on, and I did so much research and got to a point where I thought I had MS or something as my muscles were in constant spasm. Supplements helped me heaps with the muscle and nerve function, but I was a real mess, and so many doctors gave me stupid answers for things they couldnt explain, and I was given so many conflciting exercices from different physios that made me worse. In the end I got onto good help and had my injury explained. I also made sure that all my people treating me talked to each other so I was getting consistent advice. Im about $20000 in debt with medical bills and as much as that kills me i guess its the only way. The other thing I would suggest - if you can afford it. Google the medical centres for the AFL clubs, they have really good physios who only charge a little bit more than your regular one. Its worth spending a bit more to get good help. They treat all the players so are used to working with full on problems. With me I just got to a point where I was fed up and decided to go the the top for the best help.

[anmol_khanna]

thanks Bess. I have the same issue where I have been walking incorrectly and not using glutes. My physio works with me and emphasises leaning back onto heals more and tilting the pelvis Also she is working on my balance. Pilates exercises ( clams, spine curls with pelvis tilted) seem to work well.
I agree its a big issue. Having said that I think that majority of people walk incorrectly and their pelvis is not aligned.

Q) What is your opinion on chiros. I am planning to see one, however, from what I know their treatment is a short term relief and you need to keep going back to them. Also, I am not comfortable with someone changing my spinal alignment.

Q) In find it hard to not lean fwd. Do you find the same?
I agree, money is not as imp as health. IF you have health you can work and get it back . Hopefully we will be fit by end of the year.

[bess]

Sorry for late reply - I only get on the net once or twice a week.

Sounds like our physios are on the same page which tells me we are both getting good treatment.

Chiros I find good, for clicking the joint if its really stuck. But then ive seen other Chiros who move too much or are too aggressive and you end up in pain afterwards. Again it comes down to finding someone good. Some physios will also 'click' the joint also so its not as important. For me its more muscles now and posture so the chiro is just a monthly thing to help with the bone alignment.

And yeah I do fine it hard to not lean forward. I am at the point where I stick notes up around my place remninding me to lean on my heals when I stand. And when I walk I keep reminding myself how to walk right.

Yeah money stops being an issue when your whole freedom is taken away by an injury.

[bella]

I just bought some earth shoes. They are negative heel (opp of high heel). TRY THEM!!!To me this makes more sense as you are use them all the time when walking and therefore correcting and strengthening your muscles all the time. Something a chiro/physio cant do! Just be careful start wearing them gradually! I got the rockets and in the process of getting a less rigid pair.

http://www.earthshop.com.au/

Another tip is you can buy them cheaper from the states. Its just difficult to find a site that does international purchases. (Note items under $1000 have no import duty into aus). If anyone finds a good site let us know.

I am still having problems with my knee. I find that massage and strapping it each time I exercise helps. But the pain is really specific, medial side of the left knee. I had an MRI done which came back negative. Sometimes its worse than my hips!

[bess]

Hey Bella,

sorry only check this every week or so, ive actually had a massively stressful week trying to buy shoes, so its funny you should write that. Its amazing what difference the footwear makes to your pain and sometimes I cant understand it. After buying and returning about 5 pairs of shoes, I found some amazing Nike trainers they are like walking on clouds but still give heaps of stability. And the heal is great at is stops the shock that you feel in your SJ when you stand or walk. I will check your website out though as I will enentually need something a little nicer to wear when I can start going out to social things again.

Its hard to say hang in there when im in the same position as you. And often I get days where I think is this ever going to end, and I just want to cry. Everything takes longer, showering, finding a place to park so you dont have to walk on a hill. Shopping, driving etc. And the pain is always there. Then other times I stop and think how far I have come, how six months ago driving was something I planned in advance, and rolling over in bed was a nightmare. So logic tells me, with the correct treatment, and taking it easy, things will get better. My pain around the bursa has gone, and that was intense for me when I had it. I also had the knee problem too. What I did was find a really good person who does massage. He just felt where the pain was and massaged it out. It amazed me as I had been told by a physio and a chiro that it was just a bit of refferred pain. Yet i had had it for 9 months and at the time, and it killed so much I couldnt even bend my leg correctly. My leg pain still comes but I keep on top of it with a weekly massage, so it pretty much doesnt exist anymore. He only massages the legs, and the physio works on the hip back and neck regions so their treatments dont conflict or overdo things.

Walking correctly stopped my busra pain. I used to carry my hip over, yet I was taught by my physio to walk small steps, heal then toe, and to stand leaning into my heals, yet with my pelvis tilted forward while switching my TA on (which I check in my mirror). Anyway this stopped the pain I was getting on the side of my hip. Now that ive fixed my alignement with chiro and finch therapy, most of my pain is localised to the SJ, and then the glutes where the weakness is, and as it continues to improve the leg and knee pain lessons. Some of this can be fixed with a weekly adjustment by the physio, but I think there is no real fix for me now besides slow and careful restrength training. I used to think someone would just snap me back into place, or I could get some great injection to fix, but im realising now, that although my physio and chiro is still involved most of my recovery left is up to me retraining things correctly (as ive been shown) and taking it easy until im better.

Anyways I hope that helped a little.

And cheers for the shoe tip, it helps to know you are experiencing the same things.

Ill check this in a week or so, and hopefully will have some more positive feeback on progress.. Im am starting to see a new physio next week who specialises in the hip muscles, so I may not be on here for a couple of weeks while Im starting that treatment. Keep me updated also on how you are :-)