Today we are going to cover the 3 steps to
permanent relief for pelvic and SI joint pain. Now what is SI joint pain? The SI joint, if
you do have SI joint pain, is pain on either side of the tailbone where the tailbone connects
to the pelvis. So this is a drawing of the pelvis. This is your tailbone. This is
your lumbar spine or your lower back, the bones in your lower back called vertebrae
sitting on top of your tailbone. Then on either side of that you have your right hip or your
left hip if we are looking at a person from the front. When we see somebody with SI joint
pain, they will typically have pain on that given side. 70% of the time, it is on the
right side. Don’t ask me why that is but 70% of the time we know it is on the right. You can
also get shooting groin pain, buttocks pain and symptoms down the outside of the leg that
is affected. It might be pain, numbness, tingling, burning. Typically, that person
suffers from a heaviness as well. It can also cause some incontinence and leaking issues
as along to effect sexual performance as well. It can be absolutely devastating if
the pelvic problem is bad enough. Fortunately, most people just have pain on one side. So
what can you do about it? That person who has SI joint problems typically has trouble
rolling over in bed, getting in and out of a car, crossing one leg over the other. Usually
they have trouble sitting for long periods of time especially if it is on a couch or a soft
surface. So it can be absolutely devastating. Now what are the steps to permanent relief
for that? Number 1 is this. Most people when we see
them if they are going to try exercises on their own and they only have a little bit
of SI joint pain or pelvic pain, they are doing stretches. Yes, there is a very basic stretch
which most people show me on Day 1. It is a piriformis stretch which is where you grab
the knee and pull it up and across to the opposite shoulder. It will give the person
who suffers pelvic or SI joint problems and pain temporary relief. However, long term
we don’t want to stretch. We want to strengthen or stabilize. Why is that? When
somebody has an SI joint problem, so the center of gravity of your entire body is in
the center of your pelvis. That needs to move the right way and it needs to be stable when
you are doing day to day activities. If it is not stable enough, what will happen is the
joint will move so far that it becomes stuck. So if we are looking at the tailbone, we have
the tailbone and we have the pelvis and you get a normal gliding day to day. If more
stress, more force is put through the pelvis than the pelvis itself can handle, that SI
joint can handle, what will happen is you actually become stuck. Now that creates all
sorts of problems for the muscle around it. What most people do is try to stretch their
way out of it. The problem is not stretching and it is not flexibility. It is actually
a stability issue. If we want to stabilize, we need to do strengthening exercises. If you go on our
YouTube channel, on the Madden PT official YouTube channel, there is a video
called Top 3 Exercises for SI Joint and Pelvic Stability. They are very low grade, kindergarten-level
exercises where you can at least begin stabilizing the muscles that control
your pelvis. But we don’t want to stretch, we want to think stabilize. Step #2 is we want to take a look at our habits.
So what are some habits that lead to pelvic instability and problems? Number one
is standing with the weight shifted. So if I'm standing like this with my weight shifted
side to side for long periods of time, what that does is over years and years and years
it weakens the ligaments which are tissue that hold joints together that we can't control.
Think about somebody with an ankle sprain. They sprained a ligament. They stretched
the ligament but it is not a muscle. It is different than a muscle. There are little
habits that we do. If I stand like this and let's say I weigh 175 pounds and if I'm standing
like this, I have 150 pounds on one side and 25 pounds on the other. Where if I'm standing
balanced, I have 87 ½ pounds on each leg. Really quick math there. We want to take
a look at our habits. Other habits that cause problems are sitting on a couch or laying
on a couch in an awkward position or a side lying position. The way that we sleep.
If you sleep on your stomach and you have one leg raised higher than your other as you
are sleeping on your stomach, that can cause problems. Crossing one leg over another
whether it is at the ankle or it is at the knee for long periods of time. That can cause
problems. Sitting on one leg which I know especially for office workers a lot of
women will sit on one leg as they are working. Well if you work 8 hours a day, let's say
you do it half the time, so that is 4 hours a day. There is 5 work days a week so that is 20
hours a week. There are 50 work weeks a year with your 2 weeks of vacation. That is
1,000 that you have spent stretching the ligaments in your pelvis. That can create
very big problems. Also common amongst women is pregnancy. When the woman gets ready
for delivery whether it is a natural delivery or a C-section, there is a baby that
is going to pass through the birth canal or the pelvis which is right there. The body
releases hormones called Relaxin that make those ligaments really, really lax. Not such
a big deal at one pregnancy but can be a really, really big deal with the 2nd, 3rd
or more pregnancies because when that woman delivers typically now she has a toddler at
home to take care of who she is carrying and lifting and holding off to one side. So that
creates uneven wear and tear within the pelvis. That can lead to long term problems.
I mean 30, 40 or 50 years down the road it can create problems there. Also common
amongst women is shaving. If the woman which we will see often with pelvic pain,
if she holds one leg up and she leans forward while she is shaving one leg, that can typically
create problems. Create some pelvic pain and SI joint pain as well. So we want
to take a look at the habits. The biggest violator for men is they will tend to sit
on a wallet on one side. So if they are like a heavy machine operator or a truck driver or
do something where they are sitting for 1 or 2 hour drives between jobs and they have a
wallet that they are sitting on regardless of how thick it is, that can create some pelvic
and SI joint problems as well. So you want to take a look at that. The third thing that we are going to address
is this. What does successful treatment look like? And what can you do about it? So
successful treatment for SI joint and pelvic pain is this: it is hands-on PT. So the very
first thing when I see somebody in the clinic and they have SI joint or pelvic pain is there
pelvis isn’t moving the way that it is supposed to. Very difficult for me to unlock
that or for me to get their pelvis to move the right way without doing some sort of hands-on
treatment. So hands-on treatment is the first component to move the pelvis in the
way that it is supposed to. The second component of that is to do exercises as we
covered up here, that strengthen and stabilize the pelvis and SI joint so this
injury isn’t constantly happening to them over and over and over again. So we have hands-on PT
plus strengthening exercises. The relief can be quite quick with SI joint pain. Many
times we will have those little miracle cures where somebody comes in and the same day they
walk out leaving 50 to 75% better and we just need to strengthen them from there
on out. They do really, really well with physical therapy. Now if you are not in Central Pennsylvania,
how do you find a good Physical Therapist? This is the answer that I give for the questions
that we get from all over the world on how to do this. So whether you are in Australia,
whether you are in Ireland, whether you are in India or Canada or the Western
United States, here is what we say: find the best hands-on PT in your area. Here is how
to do it. Call in to schedule an appointment. When you do, ask does the therapist
do a Grade V lumbopelvic mobilization? If they don’t or if there
is a stutter or hesitation, just call the next therapy office and keep moving. You want to find one
who does the good hands-on PT. Now statistically 1 in 10 Physical Therapists
or worldwide, 1 in 10 Physiotherapists will do the type of hands-on PT that is necessary and
that the research show is the most successful for SI joint and pelvic pain. Also
another bonus item that you are going to want to look for is keep an eye on your inbox
and over the next 3 days, 4 days, you are going to get an offer for a free report on
SI joint and pelvic pain. We particularly at our clinic have done a lot of research here and
this is something that we specialize in and frankly I think we are pretty good at treating
and helping people with pelvic pain. So watch for the offer for the free report.
