Sacroiliac Joint

One of the most common causes of low back pain that we see in our office is the pain caused by the sacroiliac joint (SI).

Typically a patient will come in after visiting a physician who prescribed NSAIDS or provided a cortisone injection. They may have also visited a chiropractor, a physical therapist, and a massage therapist.

Those who come with an MRI will usually provide a film showing a herniation between the L5 and S1 vertebrae and a prognosis of impending surgery.

The sacrum, is a triangular shaped bone at the bottom of your spine. It fuses between the iliac bones,  your “right and left hips,”  to complete the pelvis.

Holding this boney structure together is a network of ligaments and tendons. When these ligaments and tendons become weakened or lax, one of the most common causes of low back pain occurs. Subluxation or a slipping of the sacroiliac (SI) joint.

Ligaments and tendons are weakened by age, oversuse syndrome, or injury. In the sacroiliac  joint,  because it supports the torso and has large nerves running through it all the way to the feet, these injuries to the sacroiliac ligaments can mimic other injuries such as disc herniation and lead to an incorrect diagnosis which could lead to an unnecessary lower back surgery. In a future article we will discuss the benefits of Prolotherapy Injections in some detail.
 
Prolotherapy injections Treatment works be strengthening the connective tissue that holds the pelvic, groin, hip region together. Typically a few injections are needed during a few visits to stabilize the area and bring pain relief through healing.