Sacroiliac joint pain
So heres the deal,
I have developed sacroiliac joint pain on Right side of hip. The ortho pain specialist gave me 1 cortisone injection with minimal improvement. Chiropractic treatment has improved the pain by 50%. Anyone else have one sided pain issues in SI Joint?
Trying to figure out is PMR is a culprit here, or is this another old-age pain in the "a##.
Thanks for your thoughts. Jerri
PMR diagnosed 2013, currently 3 mg pred.
I’d want an XRay or MRI Scan to see if there is visible damage before embarking on treatment, especially as it is one sided. It must be miserable!
Thanks Jane, this is a miserable condition . I had an MRI scan which revealed arthritis in lower back but nothing else.
The doc giving my spinal injection is an orthopedic surgeon/pain specialist who uses fluoroscopy to guide injections. He has methodically ruled out other conditions, leaving the SI Joint to be the culprit.
My concern is mainly whether PMR has played a role in development of this miserable condition.
It is improving slowly with Chiropractic stretching, massage, and the ortho injection.
I have had one sided sacro iliac joint pains on and off since I was a teenager. This has always been helped by osteopathy or chiropractic. I would suggest that if a chiropractor improved it by 50% that is a very good sign..
One piece of advice which helped me a lot. Try to,sit with your hips higher than your knees. (Use a slanting piece of foam) This really helps the pain which can be severe when sitting down?
Thanks Mary, I discovered the positional modifications you referenced, and they were the beginning of improvement.
Its nice to know others who have used Chiro treatments to manage this wretched pain.
No suggestions but hope you get it resolved. Another misery on top of PMR can feel like the last straw. ❤️
🙏🏽
You have my sympathy, been there, done that - I ended up being admitted to hospital, infusions did the job well initially but unfortunately the diazepam triggered atrial fibrillation. You win some, you lose some...
However - my sacroiliits was entirely due to back muscle spasm and I was handed over to the Pain Clinic to take the slow road: cortisone injections, needling techniques and manual mobilisation techniques. Took a while but it achieved freedom from pain for 4 or 5 years providing I have intermittent courses of massage and mobilisation from the physio dept. Been a bit recalcitrant for the last year but now back at the pain clinic and I have high hopes of being in a decent enough state to actually get some physio done to strengthen the muscles.
The worst for me is the piriformis - once it goes, others follow and tighten the sacroiliac joint so it becomes inflamed. The tight muscles are due to myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) - where the muscle fascia becomes inflamed (the transparent skin you will be familiar with from joints of meat and poultry). It also leads to the formation of pairs of trigger points - one on either side of the spine in the shoulders, about rib level and lower back. They can be felt as hard knots of muscle fibres which irritate the rest of the muscle and local nerves leading to referred pain such as sciatica. None of this appears on imaging - it is a clinical diagnosis made by identifying the hard muscles. I was told initially, by an orthopod, it was low back osteoarthritis causing the pain and I'd have to live with it. Not at all!
It is associated with PMR in that it is caused by the same inflammatory substances - except they are systemic in PMR, in MPS they are localised in the fascia and the trigger points. In releasing them they become systemic - and you feel as if you are having a flare but with gentle exercise and plenty of water to drink it passes fairly quickly. I was told by the researcher who established the inflammatory substances are the same that MPS is more common in patients with PMR than in the general population.
In the UK I didn't go to a chiropractor (or at least, not for long, far too pricey for a less than wonderful result) - but my osteopath and my Bowen therapist were miracle workers! Pilates (after an aquafit class) kept me upright and mobile. Iyengha yoga was also useful.
Thank you, I suspected a connection with PMR.. but the single-sidedness caused me to question.
Reading your response, it appears I'm on the right track, so will continue manual manipulations. I especially appreciate acupuncture, which seems to give longest term relief. I've also used lots of topical capsaicin rubs, which help also.
Geez...does it ever stop...just one thing after another...oh, well, I guess the absolute stop is dead...so on we go🤪
We had a friend who maintained that after the age of 40 if you woke up with no pain you must be dead...
I have a lot of back pain and SI pain. Lately it has been flaring and the pain is that of PMR>
So I have been increasing my pred. on the really bad days and it seems to help. After a few days I go back to the mg I was at.
🙏🏽
my advice.. usual advice.. get a lacrosse ball and put it between your butt/back/hip/ performis muscle and lean into the wall..roll a bit, find the pain, press and hold. bend your knees so you can also strengthen thigh muscles at the same time. Do it on your shoulders neck etc. just don't press ON the spine. good luck. I do this regularly and have very little pain anywhere. maybe a placebo but wow it sure feels good. #massageforfree
Update on joint pain at 2.5mg 
GCA exhaustion and joint/muscle pain
Sacroliac joint pain and PMR
