The point where the sacrum and iliac bone meet is where your sacroiliac joint is located. The sacrum is located in your lower back very close to the end of the spine, it is a triangular-shaped bone above the coccyx. Your body weight is supported by the sacroiliac joint. They help to reduce pressure on the spine when you are in motion.
The bones that make up the sacroiliac joint are connected like a puzzle and they stay together by their edges with the aid of muscles and ligaments that serve the function of stability at the joint. Although movement at the joint is minimal, they help you to maintain a good standing posture and are also important during labor and delivery (3).
The sacroiliac joint pain is localized to the lower back and it can radiate to your buttocks. The pain is a result of damage to the joint between the hip joint and your spine. The pain from the sacroiliac joint can be mistaken for a unilateral or bilateral hip injury or a herniated disc. A thorough examination and tests need to be done by your physician to make the diagnosis of the sacroiliac joint for appropriate treatment (2).
What Are The Causes Of Sacroiliac Joint Pain?
Certain factors can cause you to feel pain in the sacroiliac joint. Some of the causes of sacroiliac joint pain are:
- Pregnancy
As a woman, you are at risk of sacroiliac joint pain during pregnancy which can be a result of the extra weight you add in pregnancy, and hormonal changes in pregnancy causing the ligaments at your sacroiliac joint to relax.
Another cause of sacroiliac joint pain is in labor and delivery. During labor, your pelvic joints undergo a series of changes which also lead to pain at the sacroiliac joint. The pain varies with different women, you may continue feeling the pain after childbirth due to the ligaments maintaining the relaxation state (1).
2. History Of Surgery To The Lower Back
If you had lower back surgery done, it can cause the displacement of pressure to your lower back. If you had a fusion surgery done, you are more prone to having sacroiliac joint pain than if you had a discectomy done. Sacroiliac joint pain is also common after hip replacement surgeries. So pay attention to this if you had recent surgery on your lower back or associated joints such as the hip joint (1).
3. Inflammatory Disease Of The Sacroiliac Joint
Sacroiliitis is the medical term for sacroiliac joint inflammation or sacroiliac dysfunction. You are prone to a sacroiliac dysfunction from any of the following:
- Osteoarthritis
Your sacroiliac joint is prone to wear and tear if you put too much stress on it, and this can lead to osteoarthritis of the joint. One of the clinical signs of osteoarthritis is pain in the affected joint. Hence, the sacroiliac pain you feel from it (3).
- Ankylosing Spondylitis
This is an autoimmune disorder that results in arthritis that can affect your spinal joints and vertebrae. It results in new growth of bones around your spine and it is associated with severe pain Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory disease and it is not restricted to just the spine joints, it can affect other joints of your body and organs such as the eyes (3).
- Psoriatic Arthritis
This condition is associated with scaly skin patches. It causes you to have to swell around your joint and associated sacroiliac joint pain. This inflammatory disease is not limited to only your sacroiliac joint, your spinal joints can also be affected (4).
4. Trauma
Trauma involving your pelvic joint, spinal joints, or direct force from a fall affecting the sacroiliac joints can result in severe or radiating pain to the sacroiliac joint (4).
What Are The Symptoms Of Sacroiliac Joint Pain?
Pain is the primary symptom of the sacroiliac joint pain you will experience. The pain is characterized to be a sharp and stabbing pain. You can also feel a sharp pain in your lower back or behind your hip joint. The pain may also radiate to your inner thigh, buttocks, and your groin. The pain is worse on movement and when you change your position (5).
Other symptoms associated with sacroiliac joint pain are:
- Joint Stiffness: you will experience limited motion in your lower back and the joints the pain radiates to such as the hips, and pelvis. You also tend to experience difficulty in moving up the stairs (1).
- Weakness: you will weak in your lower limb and this weakness can also radiate to generalized body weakness (3).
- Numbness: sacroiliac joint pain is also associated with numbness in your lower back and the inner thigh region (3).
Treatment Of Sacroiliac Joint Pain
The following are the available treatment measures if you have sacroiliac joint pain:
- Physical Therapy
You will benefit from physical therapy if you have sacroiliac joint pain. Your doctor will refer you to a physiotherapist who will prescribe the appropriate exercise for you and this will gradually make it easier for you to move the joint (4). Your physiotherapist will tell you the appropriate therapy to use if you will be a cold or hot compress, the right sacroiliac belt for you especially if you are pregnant (5).
- Medication
The appropriate medication if you have joint pain is non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS). Your doctor will prescribe the appropriate NSAIDS drug for you especially if it is still in the early stage of joint pain.
In a chronic state, your doctor may need to inject steroids directly into your sacroiliac joint to ease the pain and reduce the swelling if there is any. Your doctor may also consider radiotherapy if the success of the steroid injection is only temporary (4).
- Surgery
Surgery is always the last resort if you don’t have any improvement with the medical therapies. The surgery is usually to fuse the sacroiliac joint (5).
If you still struggle with your sacroiliac joint pain, you can get help from JointFuel360, a natural joint supplement produced to help ease your joint pains and improve your movement.
References:
- https://www.spine-health.com/conditions/sacroiliac-joint-dysfunction/sacroiliac-joint-dysfunction-si-joint-pain
- https://mayfieldclinic.com/pe-sijointpain.htm
- https://www.healthline.com/health/si-joint-pain#outlook
- https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17736-sacroiliitis
- https://www.verywellhealth.com/sacroiliac-joint-pain-189250
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