Facing one of my worst fears: a potential reinjury

Well, I knew it had to come eventually– the day I slipped and fell on ice, and landed on my butt.

Blunt force to the SI joints, particularly if it’s asymmetric, is known to be a potential cause of injury.  That’s because it can subject the ligaments to greater force than they can handle, stretching them out.

A similar fall, I believe, is what caused me to injure my SI joints in the first place back in 2011.

My fall last night felt pretty similar, in terms of how hard I landed, and the symptoms I felt immediately afterward.

I landed hard, with a thud.  It didn’t hurt terribly (maybe it was a 4 on a scale of 1-10).  But I could feel the pain in my SI joints, much deeper on the joint than I normally feel pain.

In the past, when my joints have locked up, I have tended to feel pain relatively high up along the edge of the ilium.  The pain I feel now is much deeper, farther down to the base of the sacrum.

In my own personal experience, the fact that the location of the pain has changed doesn’t necessarily mean the injury is worse.   It just means that something is different.

However, I also feel the joints moving around much more– and moving deeper, if that makes sense– than they used to.

The strange thing is, I don’t perceive them to actually be locking up.  Just moving– I must have sprained the ligaments again.

This is, again, the concept of hypermobile and hypomobile.  Right now my joints are moving too much on both sides– they are hypermobile.  (If one of them were to lock up, that would make it hypomobile).

***

When I first was first injured in 2011, I had no idea what was going on and was totally dependent on my chiropractor to unlock the joint.  It took me years to figure out that the very nature of those adjustments themselves were stressing the ligaments out, and making it harder for them to heal.

So, because my joints don’t actually appear to be locked or jammed up in any way, I’m actually not going to go to the chiropractor.

Instead, I’m going to learn from past experience and simply give my body a few days to try to balance things out.  I’m going to take it easy with all weight-bearing movements, and limit my exercise to the pool, where I can’t hurt myself.

***

My favorite thing to do in the pool– and I should probably give this its own post— is using flotation equipment, like an Aqua Jogger vest or a pool noodle– simply letting my pelvis and legs hang straight down beneath me.  (This is a principle from the Burdenko method of aquatic therapy that I really recommend).

It is a great way to let your body regain its equilibrum, because it allows gravity to gently pull your body down and create space in the SI joints, as well as any other joints that might have been affected.

Healthy joints are meant to have a little bit of space in them, and it also helps facilitate the circulation of joint fluid that carries healing nutrients to reduce inflammation and reduce toxins.

So, yeah.  I’m going to take it easy as much as I can on land, to avoid doing anything to re-injure the joints.  (If I continue to have pain, I will take Advil or use ice to reduce inflammation.  Luckily, it doesn’t hurt too much right now).

And in the pool, I’ll push myself the way I normally do, unless I feel pain.  (I never push through pain with the SI joints– I believe it’s counterproductive, and not necessary in order to increase strength).

Let me know if you guys have any questions, and I’ll keep you posted on what happens!