Sacroiliac Joint Issues - In People?

[SWE]

Has anyone ever experienced issues with their SI joint(s)?

I think I'm currently suffering with a locked SI joint on one side which is becoming increasingly painful over time and I feel is making me crooked in my riding (and general life).

I have issues which my hips/bum anyway but have never been to the doctors or physio as I have usually been OK managing it with ibuprofen. This has prompted me to wonder if those issues may relate to the issue I think I'm having now.

I often get massages (from the BF) to help with the pain in my hips and often just get him to push down as hard as possible which seems to release some pain (but often makes my legs go a bit numb afterwards!). I'm wondering if he may have pushed too far which might have caused this!

I have a couple of questions
A. Is this something I could approach the doctors with or should I go straight to a physio?
B. Has anyone experienced anything similar and how did you best manage it/what was the outcome?

 

[Nudibranch]

I'd go to the GP and get a referral. Usually an x ray to check bones and joints and then physio. I was convinced I had SI problems (probably because my horse had) but it turned out to be a combination of being born slightly wonky, then ligament strain from pregnancy. It very much felt like the pain was in my hip bones themselves. It's improving now, as I am doing physio exercises to strengthen the appropriate muscles which has also sorted my long standing knee pain. I have to be super aware of my posture and core, but it's definitely working.

 

[Myloubylou]

I damaged my SI in a fall & I had to have Physio to reduce inflammation as causing lower back pain. Had ultrasound and massage & have various exercises to do. I got it organised through work but think you might need doctors referral? My sessions are about £50

 

[Wheels]

Go to the docs to see if they recommend xrays and scans.

Then get yourself to a physio.

I have ongoing SI from an old injury and the tightness there gives me issues in several areas of my hips and back. I have regular physio (every 6 weeks or so) and am in the gym at least twice a week with a programme written specifically for me by my PT which includes some mobilisation exercises, some straightening exercises and some strengthening ones. This keeps me sound and I am mostly pain free with this regime (with the odd flare up!) If I don't keep these things up then within a few weeks I can be very sore and stiff

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

What would you do if it was your horse: vet first, to get any investigations done/X-rays etc., THEN discuss/make choices re. physio and follow-up.

So I'd go the Doctor's route first, as then you'll (hopefully) get given x-rays and any investigations done, THEN you might, just, be referred for physio. However (if NHS physio) you'll likely be hugely disappointed with the experience as you'll get your allotted "slot" of how much you get - and the requisite one session with the physio and then be given some exercises to do at home plus a little page of diagrams of exercises that you're expected to do at home, then after that you'll be presumed "cured" and be discharged. It's not the physio's fault, its the system.

Hope you get this sorted.

Ohhh...... and if YOU need treatment, then so does your horse: I would recommend you get your horse checked over with both the physio AND a saddle check done. I'm lucky in that my McTimoney lady does us both; if you can find this sort of practitioner it is fab.

 

[Red-1]

I have had this.

I would be checked by the GP (although I don't hold out much hope that the GP will do anything) then see a physio. However, although the physio did many treatments they did not help. I also tried acupuncture, which didn't help.

Two things did help. One was a body worker who was truly violent (think horse back person type treatment with my legs being flung and wrenched shoved, twisted etc). I was extremely scared, but he was also a physio so I allowed it. He worked me to exhaustion/failure before wrenching my legs around. It was a killer but did help. I can't recommend it as you would have to really trust the professional and I have had many physios and none have done that before.

The other one that has really helped is Cranio Sacral treatment. That is really gentle and I would recommend it, as long as the practitioner is good. As with many alternative style treatments the qualification is sketchy. I am qualified to treat horses, yet don't feel I would offer you much value! At least with this, if the practitioner is no good they are unlikely to cause any harm. I know an amazing practitioner who does horses and humans.

 

[ester]

In my area (and my previous one) you could self refer to NHS physio which they would triage so it could be relatively quickly. Having said that I have never had a good experience with an NHS physio. The latest who was pain clinic specific was the first I thought really knew her stuff, albeit only made the problem worse.

There are specific functional tests for the SI joints that will likely be much more helpful than an xray in the first instance. Though apparently they still can't agree on how much movement should/shouldn't be present. I've never had a GP appointment that has been able to consider the problem at all and here they don't refer for any xrays etc for anthing not after an accident it has to go through the musculoskeletal team.

I'm currently on the wait list for an SI joint injection having over the years got to the end of other options helping (physio/chiro/acupuncture/shockwave/ultrasound etc). They seem very remiss to inject and presumed I didn't want to do it, despite me pointing out that if I were a horse we would have done this 10 years ago just to see .

I wouldn't let the BF anywhere near it, it sounds like he is compressing nerves, you definitely don't want to be pressing the wrong places.

 

[Leo Walker]

Go to your GP but be prepared to get fobbed off. Ester isnt the only person to experience poor NHS service fo back pain sadly. I wouldnt waste my time with an NHS physio either.

In the meantime I'd find a good osteo and see them. I'd follow it up with some sports therapy massages as well once the osteo straightens you up.

I'm disabled with mobility issues after an injury to my spine, the NHS did nothing of any use for more than 5yrs. In the last year a combination of a very good osteo and sports therapist I've gone from being able to walk about 50 metres to limping round a mile a couple of times. If I had gone this route right in the beginning I wouldnt be in the state I'm in now, but hindsight is a marvelous thing! My injury is L1 but the actual problem is in my SI joint and referred damage/pain in my hips. Obviously I am a very broken and complicated case, but it they can help me, they can definitely help you!

 

[milliepops]

I also found GP and NHS physio pretty useless but it's the obvious place to start and you might get lucky. My SI is prone to going a bit squint, fortunately for me I have a friend who is a private physio and she really was very good, she can do acupuncture too which helps me.

 

[Fuzzycat]

If your legs are going numb, that is a red flag and the GP will refer you to a specialist. I have back pain, which is bad in the mornings, I’m really really stiff when I get out of bed. I was referred to a rheumatologist as they suspect I have inflammatory back pain (autoimmune). I’m still being monitored but on my MRI scan my sacroiliac joints are showing inflammation which can be a sign of an inflammatory condition rather than normal wear and tear. Definitely go and see your GP.

 

[ester]

her legs are only going numb after the boyfriend has been squishing stuff though, so it doesn't sound like nerve compression in general life. I can make my legs go numb pretty easily but that doesn't count with regards to red flags.

 

[J&S]

I went to GP first and was given HRT for small joint pain!! didn't work at all. .... Went to GP in Devon and was told to take Aspirins, didn't work at all. New GP referred me to a very expensive Chiro who charged vast sums of money for me to see her every month and always told me to take large quantities of Ibrupofen for a few days after wards........ fast forward 10 or so years and pony did herself an injury, it became a choice of her or me for treatment. Pony was treated by a Bowen Therapist, it dawned on me that as it helped her it might help me.
Now, twice a year I get this lovely lady to treat me and lo and behold, no aspirins, no Ibrupofen and a very non invasive treatment I am as fine as possible for an old lady with a rubbish S.I joint. ( I have seen the Xrays and it looked like a jig saw puzzle with broken pieces jammed together!)

 

[ponios]

Get yourself to a chiropractor. My SI was out and it meant one leg was 2cm longer than the other. I was very sore and after 1st session much much better, 2nd session no pain (but was on rest so no lifting riding etc) and 6 weeks (and a few more sessions) later back to normal.

I wouldn't bother with a GP for this sort of thing. As with anything, make sure you find a recommended chiropracter, I have fab results with my chap but as with many 'alternative' therapies many people out there not doing such a good job.

 

[cobgoblin]

Hip arthritis can cause SI problems... It would be worth having an Xray.

 

[Mrs B]

Yes.

Just had 2 weeks of hanging onto furniture and car doors to move around at all with awful pain and numbness due to a locked SI joint (long standing injury, area locks up every now and again, usually eases off with a bit of TLC, not this time ...) I went straight to a highly recommended osteopath on Tuesday.

He checked me over very carefully, asked loads of questions, then gently unlocked the joint and I walked out with sore muscles, but upright and pain free 40 mins later.

I had rung my GP's surgery prior to this and they said all they could have offered were painkillers and for me to go on their waiting list to see a physio.

I hope you get it sorted soon ...

 

[Leo Walker]

Please be careful with chiros. For some reason there seem to be a lot of them that arent very ethical. I saw one who wanted me to come weekly almost indefinitely and charged me nearly £50 for 10mins of his time. I changed to my current osteo and started off 6 weekly, went to 3 monthly and am now on 6 monthly. Dont waste your money on anyone who wants to see you a lot!

 

[J&S]

so agree with this!

 

[ester]

IME all physical therapists tend to vary the good ones are good regardless of their title. The bad ones I went once and never went back to.
I currently see a chiro who is just down the road and will do me longer appointments for an extra fiver - I always need a longer appointment! She is really good at all the other bits but for whatever reason we can't nail the poss SI joint issue - however it does/has confused pretty much everyone.

Current (rather radical ) physio who consultant sent me to to check nothing missed said it would work straight off or not at all. I was pleased I maintained my scepticism. However she said if it does work you are going to be cross no one mentioned it before!

 

[Nudibranch]

Like with horses, you really should rule out what you can via x ray/ MRI first. It does make me wonder the way people on here are so happy to doctor/vet bash at the drop of a hat without knowing for sure what is actually wrong with the OP.

 

[Mrs B]

Like with horses, you really should rule out what you can via x ray/ MRI first. It does make me wonder the way people on here are so happy to doctor/vet bash at the drop of a hat without knowing for sure what is actually wrong with the OP.

In my case, I rang the surgery to ask to see a Dr and the triage nurse rang me back to say I could come in for an appointment if I really wanted to, but all they would do was give me strong painkillers and I could fill in a form to get on the list to see the physio, but then said it was quite a wait and I may want to consider seeing someone privately.

No MRI or X-ray suggested - just a private physio or similar.

I simply couldn't function in the pain I was in, so that's the route I took ...

 

[Leo Walker]

Like with horses, you really should rule out what you can via x ray/ MRI first. It does make me wonder the way people on here are so happy to doctor/vet bash at the drop of a hat without knowing for sure what is actually wrong with the OP.

I'm bashing doctors because of my experience not the OPs? And my experience has been horrific. Its not just me. The last nurse I saw roughly 2 weeks ago was telling me how embarrassed and upset she is at the way people are treated

 

[ester]

It took me 20 years to be offered an MRI (and when I was being advised it should happen 9 months of persistance), with a supporting letter from a private physical therapist who purposely didn't mention my hypermobility because he was concerned they would say it was just that and still not scan.
No one in that time has ever suggested an xray.
Despite the fact that I have been experiencing increasing pain (and situational numbness) (pain which was previously somewhat stable) over the last 3 years because the low back MRI was ok they were still quite keen to just send me to the NHS physio despite me listing the previous people who had had input unsuccessfully privately. I managed to get redirected to the pain clinic but 9 months in nothing has changed in that respect.
Recent private consultant's (attended in desperation) words were why didn't they MRI your pelvis, who knows, I don't.
There is no intention to do any more scanning, they are just going to go straight in with a needle so I presume they aren't too bothered about the lack of evidence. It was decided in my absence and it is likely that it will happen before I get to see the consultant again due to a 6 month wait time. So a consultant who I saw once last August for 20 mins has decided on a treatment plan without seeing me since.

People are commenting from their own, genuine experiences. I love evidence, but if you can't get it then you can't just do nothing and live in constant, unrelenting pain.

So yes if you can afford it or have insurance go private, get full diagnostics (thankfully a bit cheaper than they used to be) then decide what to do.
If you are relying on NHS don't expect it to happen in a timely manner if at all, I know a whole heap of people with very similar stories to my own .

 

[scribble]

I have had this with both so at once plus coccyx so really painful. I couldn’t walk, sit and was on endless painkillers but notj9ng worked.i saw a good chiro but the unlocking it only lasted 2 days so I had to go back every week. In the end I go to a mctimmoney lady who found I had massive knitted muscles in my bum, trigger points very reactive. I was in tears fir ages.i still can’t fly more than 6 hrs and have to be careful which car I buy etc etc. You need to get movement such as walking or swimming into the singing plus Pilates to help stabs;use it.mine got to the point I was going to have it live injected in my spine to see if they could control the pain with steroid but this can make it worse. Luckily we didn’t need to do this. I am bit better now but I know I need to do so m7ch exercise etc each day.

 

[SWE]

Wow thank you all so much for the replies and sharing your experiences.

I will give my gp a call and see what they say! 😊