AWa IsIf your doctor or physical therapist has told you that your back pain is due to sacroiliitis, you should know that the pain in your back comes from an inflammation in the sacroiliac joint. But your doctor or your physical therapist, did they specify in which of them? Because in our body we have 2 sacroiliac joints. One right and one left. Continue reading so that you know more about this affectation of the sacrum bone, called sacroiliitis, its causes and its treatments.
Sacroiliac joints: get to know them a little better
Observe the following image:
As you can see, the sacroiliac joint is located in the hip, and is made up of a triangular bone with a superior base that we know better as the sacrum, and a wide, fan-shaped bone called the ilium (one of the 3 bones that make up the sacroiliac joint). the pelvis, the ilium is the largest of the 3 bones). We can also mention the coccyx bone, a small bone that is attached to the tip of the sacrum.
We have 2 different joints, one on the right side and one on the left side. These joints are vital, especially for locomotion: when we walk, they make synchronous movements of the same amplitude so that walking is effective and generates the minimum expenditure of energy.
Symptoms of sacroiliac OR sacroiliitis
These sacral bone joints can become inflamed, and when inflamed cause a lot of pain in the lower back and buttocks. The pain manifests or worsens considerably during simple activities such as climbing stairs, walking with long steps and even just standing for a long time.
Why does sacroiliitis appear?
Sacroiliac or sacroiliitis can be given for different reasons:
- Direct blows or traumas to the joint, like any other blow to the body, generate inflammation of the tissues, causing, in addition to the aforementioned symptoms, flushing of the joint area, tumor, increased temperature and loss of function.
- There are different degenerative diseases (that is, they have progressed over the years) that affect the sacrum and wear out the joint. Such is the case of arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, etc.
- During pregnancy, the mother’s pelvis must be modified for childbirth, in addition, the extra weight of the baby on the hip and an unhealthy gait pattern for the mother causes pain at the level of the sacrum since the sacroiliac joint gives way and becomes inflamed .
- There is a vision of alternative medicine that establishes that sacroiliitis is the product of visceral alterations or of our organs. Everything in our body is connected, so this theory is not unreasonable and it has even been seen how in many cases it is the source of the injury.
What is a visceral dysfunction?
Learn with the following video the relationship between musculoskeletal pain and your organs:
How do I know if I have right or left sacroiliitis?
In the first instance, the first thing that should be done is to rule out with X-rays and analytical tests (physical examination), that it is the beginning of a rheumatic or degenerative disease. But in any case, you need not to be alarmed: degenerative diseases are not the most frequent cause, this is a possibility that does not occur very often, so your problem may be reversible.
Most of the causes for which sacroiliitis appears are the manifestation of a decompensation in the musculature of the pelvis and back, also associated with other decompensations and blockages of the vertebrae, especially in the lumbar area, which in turn are caused because of the visceral dysfunctions that we talked about above.
How does conventional medicine treat the pain of sacroiliitis or sacroiliac inflammation?
Unfortunately, in these cases, conventional medicine treats this ailment solely for the purpose of “hiding” or “covering” the symptoms: through the administration of medications such as anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxants, it aims to make the lesion disappear. There are even doctors who decide to go to the extreme in cases of very stubborn sacroiliitis that have lasted for a long time, and choose to use cortisone injections directly in the sacroiliac joint.
These treatments are not completely unreasonable but they only work and have good results if the ailment is the result of a specific overexertion or even after a trauma or blow due to an accident or the practice of a sport. In this case, the person would immediately state the cause, saying “I hit myself playing ‘x’ sport” or “I had an accident recently”.
Physiotherapy also tries to cure this ailment based on stretching, relaxing muscle massages, ultrasounds and many other techniques and methods that we generally use in a consultation. The problem is that the physiotherapist treats the injury, without asking about the real cause of the problem. This physiotherapy treatment is adequate, without side effects, but frequently it does not obtain a complete result or one that satisfies the patient’s needs, prolonging their visits to the consultations.
what is the cause of this inflammation of the sacro-iliac joint?
Let’s take into account a much broader analysis, which does not only concern the musculoskeletal system. We have to think that what this sacroiliitis comes to teach us is the consequence of the malfunction of a viscera or organ. If sacroiliitis occurs on the right side, it is usually related to irritation of the small intestine and sometimes to a benign condition of the prostate or uterus. In the case of the manifestation of sacroiliitis on the left side, it can sometimes be due to the presence of the irritable colon (so frequent in our society), but statistically we see more frequently that left sacroiliitis is due to kidney dysfunction or alteration, caused by exhaustion secondary to stress and by a diet that overloads kidney function.
What is the treatment I recommend for sacroiliitis or sacroiliac pain?
Conclusion
With this we do not want to despise the work of doctors or other physiotherapist colleagues. We simply want to demonstrate that there are other causes for which lesions appear and other treatment alternatives that can be combined or incorporated into conventional physiotherapy treatments: phytotherapy, eating control and managing emotions, especially stress that is the main cause of alteration of many of our organs. In addition, it is a way to return to our roots, to return to nature that is not only cheaper but just as effective as a drug.
Key points about sacroiliitis OR sacroiliac
- The sacroiliac joint is located in the hip, it is made up of the sacrum and ilium bones. We have one on the right side and one on the left side.
- Action: when we walk, they perform synchronous movements of the same amplitude so that the march is effective and generates the minimum expenditure of energy.
- Symptoms: when inflamed they cause a lot of pain in the lower back and in the buttocks.
There are many more visceral dysfunctions, and they not only affect the joint of a bone such as the sacrum, specifically the sacroiliac joint, but also the entire musculoskeletal system and especially the back. In this portal we have much more content about other injuries related to organs and their treatments. Be sure to read us to stay up to date.
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