Hi everyone! Here’s a complete list of everything I’ve written. I was curious to see what my posts looked like laid out in this framework. You may find it easier to navigate this way, or find a topic that you’re looking for.
I’m thinking of creating an e-book on the SI joint, so this is sort of the framework for my table of contents. I’m always curious to hear which types of posts people find the most helpful, so if you have any feedback, please let me know!
- Main functions of the SI joint
- Ligaments of the SI joint
- Where is the SI joint? Useful illustrations
- SI Joint Concepts: Useful terminology
- The SI joint acts like a shock absorber
- Finally, my own visual aides! (Some basic views of the SI joint).
- Major structures of the pelvis
- The SI joint is like a puzzle
- How the SI Joint affects Movement Efficiency
- The SI Joint and Shock Absorption
Understanding SI Joint Dysfunction:
Getting a diagnosis:
- Are there 4 main types of SI joint dysfunction?
- Knowledge is power: find the right specialist who understands your issues
- Genetic conditions that can cause SIJD
- Imaging and the SI joint: why imaging isn’t normally used to diagnose SIJD, but can still rule out other things
- People will dismiss what doesn’t fit their worldview: why you should keep searching even if you aren’t finding answers at first
- SI joint injections, Part 1: Lidocaine: what many doctors consider to be the “gold standard” of diagnosis
Musculoskeletal factors:
- Causes of sacroiliac joint dysfunction: acute and chronic
- What is the difference between SI Joint inflammation and dysfunction?
- SI Joint Concepts: Hypomobility vs. Hypermobility
Alignment:
- Why correcting your alignment can be the missing piece of the puzzle
- Levels of pathology: why some forms of misalignment are more “serious” than others
- When a physical therapist performs an SI joint adjustment, you should feel an improvement right away.
- Reader question: can you realign your SI joint, even if it’s been stuck for many years?
Upslip:
Posterior rotation:
- What happens when an SI joint gets stuck?
- Why do some people’s SI joints get stuck, when others’ don’t?
Effects on the rest of the body:
- How SI joint dysfunction can affect the rest of your body
- The Pubic Symphysis: the joint at the front of the pelvis
- Can the SI joint cause sciatica?
Other potential causes to rule out:
- Lumbar Rotation vs SI joint dysfunction
- Lumbar fusion and SI joint dysfunction
- Tight muscles can mimic SI joint dysfunction
- Is your hip pain a labral tear?
- How does the SI joint relate to other causes of low back pain? (Coordinated Health TV: Low Back Pain Part 1)
- How that scary snapping feeling in the front of your pelvis can actually be tight muscles
- SI Joint Concepts: Hypomobility vs. Hypermobility
- SI Joint Concepts: Useful Terminology
- SI Joint Concepts: Form Closure vs. Force Closure
- Positions where the SI joint is more or less stable
- What’s the difference between a ligament sprain and a muscle sprain?
- The SI Joint and Shock Absorption
- Identifying the problem
- Working out regularly in a pool
- Adjusting my own movement patterns and related post The SI joint is like a puzzle
- Muscular Strength vs. Endurance
- Developing a thorough stretching routine
- When someone finally told me only one SI joint could lock up at a time
- Learning to adjust my own SI joints
- Discovering chiropractic adjustments had been re-spraining my ligaments the entire time (and deciding not to receive them anymore) — this link will take you to my original post on my main blog, Sunlight in Winter
Looking back at everything I know now:
- The end of my SI joint issues is officially in sight
- How I healed my SI joints without surgery
- How it all finally came together
- My Recovery Timeline
- The goal of strengthening is to maximize your body’s own support system (so you aren’t dependent on adjustments)
Daily life with SI Joint Dysfunction:
Sitting:
- Why sitting can be painful with SI Joint Dysfunction
- My advice for a reader worried about sitting for 10 hours on a plane
- A physical therapist explains how to minimize SI joint pain while sitting
Driving:
Approaches to Treatment
- When muscle strength finally takes over for weak ligaments
- How I healed my SI joints without surgery
- Three major muscle groups to strengthen for SI joint dysfunction
- Key Point #4: Muscular strength vs. Endurance
- Key Point #5: Developing a thorough stretching routine
- The goal of strengthening is to maximize your body’s own support system
- When it comes to exercise, start where you are.
Core
- The most important place to start strengthening: the core & transverse abdominis
- If I was going to start with any one exercise, it would be these gentle core exercises.
- The muscles of the core (and why we focus on the transverse abdominis).
SI Belts
- Stretching and Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction
- Tight muscles can mimic SI joint dysfunction
- Stretches for the hamstrings, and how to protect the SI joints while stretching
- The #1 most important stretch that I do: one leg knee-to-chest
- My awesome stretching table
- Key Point #5: Developing a thorough stretching routine
- The importance of pool exercise to my recovery
- Pool Exercises: A Basic Overview
- Pool exercises for the sacroiliac joint (preliminary/rough draft)
- One of the best things you can do for yourself in the pool: traction (letting your legs hang beneath you in the deep end)
- The benefits of swimming in cold water
- Youtube playlist: aquatic exercise
Physical Therapy:
How to find a good physical therapist:
- Persistence
- Thinking creatively
- Find someone with experience in treating the SI joint
- Search tips
- The PT’s I observed as a student
SI joint adjustments by a physical therapist (most of this is covered above in the Alignment section):
- What is manual therapy?
- When a Physical Therapist performs an SI joint adjustment, you should feel an improvement right away.
- My appointment with a PT certified in Orthopedic Manual Therapy
More on physical therapy:
- Evidence-Based Examination and Treatment of the Pelvis with Dr. Alexis Wright (a fascinating-looking continuing education course for PT’s who want to know more about the SI joint).
My experience with lumbar spine hypermobility (2018):
- My appointment with a PT certified in Orthopedic Manual Therapy
- Pain Neurotags: how the nervous system protects us from injury
- How exactly does the Muscle Energy Technique work?
- Clarifying the Muscle Energy Technique
- Finally, a decent video of someone using the Muscle Energy Technique for the SI joint!
- Why I switched from chiropractor visits to the Muscle Energy Technique
- Do’s and Don’ts for the Muscle Energy Technique
Other Conservative Approaches:
Chiropractors
I have mixed feelings on chiropractic as a whole. I do believe the chiropractors who are more aligned with mainstream medicine have something to offer, although I believe the field needs more research. Due to safety concerns, I personally do not receive chiropractic adjustments. Overall I think physical therapists who offer the Muscle Energy Technique are a better way to go.
- What I think chiropractic has to offer
- A chiropractor explains why he doesn’t believe adjustments can heal SI joint dysfunction
- My search for providers who understand both chiropractic and mainstream medicine
Traditional Doctors:
The options a back pain specialist, such as a physiatrist, can offer you:
- Coordinated Health: Low Back Pain Part 1: How does the SI joint relate to other causes of low back pain?
- Coordinated Health: Low Back Pain Part 4: A physiatrist explains SI joint dysfunction
- A type of specialist you might want to see: physiatrists
SI Joint Injections:
- Part 1: Lidocaine
- Part 2: Lidocaine & Cortisone Combined
- Part 3: Will an SI Joint Injection Help You?
- Dr. Carter Beck & the Rialto implant
- Amazing Interview with Dr. Carter Beck (History of SI joint surgery)
- and more posts under Surgery category
Prolotherapy:
- What is Prolotherapy? (and why I didn’t end up having it)
- Update: An alternative view on prolotherapy (and why maybe you should have it!)
- Reader question: can you heal the SI joints without prolotherapy?
Treatment Approaches & Differing Perspectives
- When people claim SI joint dysfunction isn’t real
- Adam Meakins/The Sports Physio: A critical view of SIJ treatments (that I don’t completely agree with)
- Dean Somerset (exercise physiologist) on SI Joint Dysfunction
- Is the US really the best place for SI joint treatment? (A look at SI joint resources from around the world).
- My search for providers who understand both chiropractic and mainstream medicine
History of SI Joint Treatment
Resources: (for a complete list see List of All Sources Cited)
All resources are divided into the following categories (click each for more detail):
Reader Emails
- Reader email: Kerry (“Why am I not getting better, even though I exercise?”)
- My advice for a reader worried about sitting for 10 hours on a plane
Newer posts:
Learning I have a genetic hypermobility disorder (2020)
- Understanding hypermobility: An overview, and how I first learned I was hypermobile
- The first time someone ever told me I was hypermobile: My hypermobility story, Part 1
- Strengthening, hypermobility, and “why you need to always keep your muscles strong: My hypermobility story, Part 2
- The SI joint and hypermobility: how an SI joint can be hypermobile
- New England area hypermobility resources: treatment options in my little corner of the world
- What you can learn from people with hypermobility: we are on the extreme end of the spectrum, in terms of what can happen with the SI joint– which is why everyone else can learn a lot from our experiences!
Genetics consultation for hypermobility
Newer posts/current routine (2020-present):
- When you’re in it for the long haul: Isometric exercises (featuring my lockdown exercise routine!).
- Taking it to the next level
- Working the foot core
- Having enough muscle strength can change everything
- The function of a muscle spasm — a lot of readers had been asking, “If one particular muscle gets tight, is that enough to pull the SI joints out of alignment on its own?” This was my response.
- A rough workout that made me super happy
- How walking on softer surfaces can reduce joint pain
Mind-Body
