SI or sacroiliac dysfunction refers to pain and problems in the joint(s) in the back where your spine meets your pelvis. It is located between the sacrum (the wide bone between your buttocks) and the part of the pelvis where your buttocks attach. If you are touching your low-back and slide your hand toward your tailbone, you will feel a bump on both left and right sides, which is the SI joint.
Those 2 bones have to line up just right and stay moving appropriately as we get up, walk, turn, etc. If they don’t, you will feel the ligaments pull, or the 2 bones rub each other, or perhaps feel one of the nerves which exit the sacrum. Men and women can have this problem, but it seems more prevalent in women as our joints go thru phases when the ligaments aren’t as strong to keep the joint stable (these times may be during pregnancy, post-natal, during menstruation) and for those who have hypermobility (super loose joints because the tissue stretches more than the average person’s).
Treatment involves balancing the muscles which attach to the core so the joint mechanics are optimal, strengthening the core to minimize strain and compression, learning how to move more efficiently, and trying taping or belts to assist the joint when exercise isn’t possible or sufficient.
Identifying “hidden” tensions can be really helpful in correcting the problem. On multiple occasions, I have helped patients identify that the ligament between the uterus and sacrum was tighter on one side, creating a pull or imbalance to the SI joint. Correcting that tension with special visceral manual techniques often immediately decreases the pain and allows the woman to strengthen without increasing the pain. resolve this condition, often by re-coordinating the pelvic muscles with breath, with movement, and by changing the nervous system response. Sometimes there are small obstacles, like scar tissue or the bladder position is not optimal within the pelvic cavity, but don’t worry, we can change that, too.