Is your Sacroiliac Joint Causing Your Back Pain? A Back Doctor Can Help

Is your Sacroiliac Joint Causing Your Back Pain? A Back Doctor Can Help

If you’re suffering from lower back pain, you might have a problem with your sacroiliac joint, or your SI joint. Your sacroiliac joint is located in your pelvis. It links the iliac bones, or the pelvis, to the sacrum, which is the lowest part of the spine above the tailbone.  This condition is painful and a back doctor may be able to help you.

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Causes of Sacroiliac Joint Pain

As with other bones and joints in the body, your pelvis bones and your SI joint can become damaged both through injury as well as normal wear and tear. Injury could cause the joint to get disrupted or misaligned, and the supporting ligaments may be damaged. Among the causes of SI joint pain are trauma in your past, or degenerative disease. Other causes of SI are unknown.

Symptoms of SI Pain

Symptoms come in either acute or chronic form. If your symptoms are immediately obvious you have acute symptoms. On the other hand, if your symptoms begin to come over time, you’ve got chronic symptoms. You may feel problems or pain in your upper legs, buttocks, or higher on the spine. These symptoms are most obvious when you’re sitting, lifting, walking, or running. You might feel your symptoms between your lower leg and your lower spine or anywhere in between. Many back doctors miss the SI joint when diagnosing your back pain. Make sure yours is checking your SI joint.

People Most at Risk for SI Joint Problems

  • Anyone can have problems with their sacroiliac joint, but some groups of people are more at risk:
  • People who’ve had significant injuries that caused a disruption of the SI joint
  • People whose pelvis motion is asymmetric. Asymmetric motion might happen if your legs are significantly different length, or if one leg is weaker than the other. Worn out or inappropriate footwear can alter your steps and cause stress repetitively on your sacroiliac joint
  • Women who have been through pregnancy. In addition, women are generally at an increased risk for problems in their sacroiliac joint due to their broader pelvises. The broader pelvises coupled with a greater curve in the lumbar spine combines to increase risks of sacroiliac problems.

How to diagnose Sacroiliac Joint Problems

Sacroiliac Joint issues are difficult to diagnose because they share many symptoms with other disorders your back doctor is going to look for. Keep these tips in mind:

  • SI joint problems often feel like spinal disc pain. Be sure your back doctor checks your SI joint if you feel spinal disc pain.
  • SI Joint problems frequently happen along with other spinal problems like degenerative disc disease, osteoarthritis, sciatica, or herniated discs. If you’ve been injured and you’ve been diagnosed with any of these problems, have your back doctor check the SI joint as well.
  • Suffering pain after your lumar spine surgery you may have a sacroiliac joint problem instead of or in addition to your lumbar problem.
  • If you’ve had lumbar surgery in the past, there’s an increased risk that you’ll have SI joint problems, even if you don’t feel the symptoms now.

Because these challenges in diagnosing your pain exist, it is important for you to bring up concerns about SI joint problems with your back doctor. Your doctor will use a variety of tests to examine your back and pelvis to determine whether SI Joint problems cause your back pain. They may use X-rays, CT-scans, or MRIs to diagnose your SI Joint disorder.

If you or someone you love shows symptoms of SI joint pain, the team at Relax Holistic will offer you a free consultation and chiropractic analysis. You can contact them at their West Hollywood office, their Marina del Rey office, or their Culver City office.

Scoliosis Can Be Helped with Holistic Care

Scoliosis Can Be Helped with Holistic Care

Treat your body well by using its natural healing powers. Hospital and doctors’ visit are expensive and may not fix the problem at its root. Holistic care is non-evasive and can correct many health issues such as Scoliosis.

Scoliosis is not a disease, but rather the term to describe any abnormal, sideways curvature of the spine. Characteristics include an ‘S’ or ‘C’ shape to the spine. The cause is widely unknown, but fortunately, there are preventive, holistic health treatments available.

If neglected, abnormal curvature of the spine could lead to deceptive health problems in the future. That is why it is so important to recognize the symptoms of Scoliosis and receive holistic care early on.

Causes

No definitive answers exist as to the cause of Scoliosis. It is still somewhat of a mystery as to why some individuals get it, and others do not.

The largest affected population are children. The condition, which causes the spine to twist or curve as it forms, is most common to occur around the ages of 5-15. If a parent has Scoliosis, then their children are more likely to inherit it. This leads professionals adopting genetics as the culprit to early spine deformation.

Even in adult patients, its presence is unknown as to its causation. Adult Scoliosis could be a side effect of past or present health issues. The patient may have had neurological trauma or mild Scoliosis since childhood. Other physical causes could be muscle spasms, bad posture, or having legs at different lengths.

In the elderly, Scoliosis may appear from osteoporosis, misalignments with shrinking discs and postural muscle weakness.

Symptoms

You can prevent Scoliosis by recognizing the symptoms early. Lateral curvature of the spine is the most common indicator to see a chiropractor for further analysis.

Early signs to look for include:

• One-shoulder higher than the other

• One hip higher than the other

• Shoulder blade protruding on one side more than the other

• Uneven waistline

• Uneven shoe wear

• Clothes fit unevenly

• Leaning to one side

• Pain in the legs or back

Advanced cases cause protruding rib cages on one side of the body or misalignment of the hips, knees, and feet. The most severe cases affect breathing and organ functioning.

Treatment

Holistic care is non-evasive and if done early enough, can completely align the spine to a healthy state. Scoliosis treatments may include chiropractic care, therapeutic massage, acupuncture, spinal manipulation, traction, electric muscle stimulation, and exercise.

Chiropractic adjustments work with the body’s own healing abilities by slowly straightening the spine. Chiropractic care can even relieve patients from symptoms experienced after the scoliosis surgery.

Acupuncture and therapeutic massage are great at relieving muscle pain and other symptoms associated with Scoliosis.

At times it is recommended to have custom orthotics as part of the Scoliosis treatment. The health of the feet and spine relate directly to each other.

If Scoliosis goes untreated, you may find it hard to function or participate in physical activity. Advanced cases would require surgery. The most common surgery uses Herrington rods, which are metal rods permanently implanted along the length of the entire spine to straighten it out.

Preventive Care

At Relax Holistic, our trained doctors look at the entire picture in determining the right plan for your overall health. We examine your spine, feet, and overall well-being in determining the best care options for our patients.

Our holistic care treatments consider both long-term relief and prevention. It couldn’t be any easier to make an appointment with us as we have three convenient office locations in the Los Angeles area. Please feel free to contact us today!