Sacroiliac Joint Pain

The sacroiliac joint is the part of the body that connects the base of the spine (sacrum) and the part of the pelvis called the ilium. There are two connections and each connection forms a strong robust joint due to the formation of grooves and ridges at the end of the bones. Both ends of the bone are covered in cartilage, which acts as a shock absorber. The strength of the joint is really due to two factors the grooves and ridges and mentioned earlier and extremely strong ligaments surrounding the joint (both anterior and posterior)

There are two main causes of sacroiliac joint pain, sacroilitis and sacroiliac joint dysfunction. Sacroilitis is an inflammation of the joint and as such may cause pain in the lower back, buttocks and thighs. Sacroiliac joint dysfunction can also cause pain in the low back and legs but is commonly believed to be caused by problems with the joint movement i.e. either too much movement or too little. Sacroilitis tends to be caused by degenerative tissue diseases such as psoriasis. Strained ligaments are unlikely to be a cause of sacroiliac joint pain as the ligaments surrounding the joint are extremely strong; they are actually stronger than the bold so in most cases the pelvis will break before the ligaments to.

Symptoms

The following are symptoms that may be an indication of sacroiliac joint problems

• A dull ache around the lower back and hips may be a sign of a mechanical sacroiliac joint problem. The joint has a very limited range of movement and the ache may be a product of the person exceeding the range.


• The pain will usually be a mild or moderate a around the posterior that may become worse when standing from a seated position.


• The pain usually appears on the left-hand side of the body.


• You notice yourself changing your posture and body position to avoid discomfort.


• Lower back pain and stiffness that often increases throughout the prolonged sitting all prolonged walking.

Testing

There are many ways to test for sacroiliac dysfunction but unfortunately, most of the individual tests have proven to be unreliable by themselves. Your doctor will usually recommend a combination of tests and then take great care and significant time to analyze and correlate the results. Careful interpretation of tests is critical as both false positives and false negative test results our common with individual tests.