The four main types of SI joint dysfunction

Hey everyone! I’ve been thinking a lot recently about different ways to classify different types of SI joint dysfunction and pain. When most people think of SI joint dysfunction, they think of it as the result of a musculoskeletal injury. However, there are other potential reasons for why people may experience SI joint pain. Sometimes, you can have an underlying medical condition that’s actually … Continue reading The four main types of SI joint dysfunction

Christy CollinsJune 27, 2017July 25, 20228 Comments

My Story, My Writing, Resources, Vicki Sims

How SI joint dysfunction can affect the rest of your body

One of the craziest things about the SI joint is that even though it’s only meant to move a few millimeters, when those few millimeters of motion become restricted, it can really wreak havoc on the rest of your body. Although this joint isn’t meant to move a ton compared to other joints in the body (think of the hip socket, the shoulder, or the … Continue reading How SI joint dysfunction can affect the rest of your body

Christy CollinsJune 23, 2017June 5, 202249 Comments

Resources

The core muscles & transverse abdominis: the most important place to start strengthening

Hi everyone! I’ve had a lot of requests recently for exercises for the SI joint. There are soo many things I want to say about this, but today, I figured we’d start with what I believe to be the most important place to start strengthening: a core muscle called the transverse abdominis. *** The transverse abdominis is the #1 most important muscle to strengthen to stabilize … Continue reading The core muscles & transverse abdominis: the most important place to start strengthening

Christy CollinsJune 19, 2017June 5, 20226 Comments

Strengthening

Three major muscle groups to strengthen for SI joint dysfunction

Hi everyone! One of the topics people ask me about most frequently is my exercise routine for SI joint dysfunction. However, before I go into specific exercises, I wanted to take a moment to try to shift your thinking on what strengthening means for SI joint dysfunction. What a lot of people get wrong is thinking there are certain exercises that they have to do, … Continue reading Three major muscle groups to strengthen for SI joint dysfunction

Christy CollinsJune 14, 2017May 20, 202625 Comments

For Patients, My Story, My Writing, Resources

What I learned from seeing my third physiatrist

I had a pretty interesting experience yesterday that I thought I’d share with you all– the good and the bad. I saw a physiatrist at Mass General Hospital who was actually familiar with treating the SIJ. (A physiatrist is a type of doctor that treats physical dysfunction, similar to an orthopedist or a pain specialist. People always think I’m saying “psychiatrist,” but I’m not). I … Continue reading What I learned from seeing my third physiatrist

Christy CollinsJune 13, 2017September 29, 20172 Comments

Resources

The mattress that helped my SI joint issues

When my SI joints were at their worst, they were extremely sensitive to the kind of surface I was resting on. Of course, in the midst of my problem, the mattress I’d loved for about 10 years finally wore out. And it wore out bad. Now that I’m doing better, it’s almost hard to remember how sensitive I was. At the time, all I knew was … Continue reading The mattress that helped my SI joint issues

Christy CollinsJune 5, 2017May 20, 202610 Comments

For Patients, My Story, My Writing

So, it turns out I wasn’t crazy…

Hey everyone, I was just working on revamping the “My Story” page for this blog, and I ended up reflecting on one aspect of this saga which I really haven’t talked about as much: How totally and completely crazy I felt when I was first trying to get help for this problem. The first time one of my SI joints locked up, in 2011, it was a … Continue reading So, it turns out I wasn’t crazy…

Christy CollinsMay 29, 2017July 3, 20216 Comments

My Story, My Writing

Post-Fall Update, Part 3

Okay, it’s been officially three weeks since my fall on the ice, and I think it’s safe to say that this episode is resolving without turning into the dramatic re-injury that I feared. It is more a blip on the radar– the kind of setback I had from time to time for years while trying to recover from my first injury– than its own new … Continue reading Post-Fall Update, Part 3

Christy CollinsApril 3, 2017April 3, 2017Leave a comment

For Patients, My Story, My Writing, Resources

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 … Continue reading Facing one of my worst fears: a potential reinjury

Christy CollinsMarch 16, 2017March 17, 20171 Comment

For Patients, My Writing, Resources

What is Prolotherapy? (and why I didn’t end up having it).

A reader asked me if I’d ever had prolotherapy yesterday, and since I’ve been meaning to write about it for a while, now seems like the right time to put this out there! What is prolotherapy? Prolotherapy is a relatively new form of treatment, meant to speed the healing of sprained ligaments. It involves an injection of special substances into the specific area you want … Continue reading What is Prolotherapy? (and why I didn’t end up having it).

Christy CollinsMarch 11, 2017June 27, 20174 Comments