For me, the key to stabilizing my SI joints was to strengthen the muscles around the joint.
When your muscles are stronger, they are able to do a much better job holding your SI joints in place, so that the joints can function optimally.
Additionally, when your muscles are strong, they can also help to take some of the pressure off of your sprained ligaments, allowing them to heal.
Although a ligament that has been sprained may never completely go back to the way it once was, you may find that by keeping up a certain baseline of muscle strength, you’re able to compensate for this and move normally.
This was what happened for me. Although I know my SI joint ligaments will always be slightly compromised from my initial injury, once I built up enough muscle strength, I stopped having to think about my ligaments at all. My joints just started staying in place, the way they were meant to.
Although not everyone is able to heal their SI joints through strengthening alone (this is why some people decide to go on and pursue other treatment options, such as surgery), my sincere hope is that you are able to.
Here are some posts I wrote related to the topic of strengthening (and more to come!):
General Strengthening:
- How I healed my SI joints without surgery
- The point I’m at now: When muscle strength finally takes over for weak ligaments
- Three major muscle groups to strengthen for SI joint dysfunction
- The goal of strengthening is to maximize your body’s own support system.
Core Strength
- The most important place to start strengthening: the core & transverse abdominis
- Start building core strength with exercises that are gentle on the SI joints and lower back
- The muscles of the core (and why we focus on the transverse abdominis!).
Muscles of the Hip
And of course, one of my favorite forms of exercise is pool exercise! I have found that it’s a great way to build up muscle strength without doing anything to re-strain your ligaments.
So I hope you’ll also check out my Aquatic Therapy page!
