Would it surprise you to learn that about 80% of people in the US will experience low back pain at some point in their lives, and, at any given time, about one quarter of adults in the United States have low back pain?
If you’re reading this blog post, it likely means that you’re all too familiar with low back pain, and you’re searching for answers. And we’re here to provide them.
At World Medical Group dba Neuropathy & Pain Centers of Texas, our team of pain management experts has a good deal of experience helping patients to navigate the challenging world of low back pain. What we’ve found is that sacroiliac (SI) joint dysfunction is often to blame. We review this common, yet not widely known, condition below.
A great place to start this discussion is with a brief refresher on spine anatomy. Your spine stretches from the base of your skull down to your pelvis and includes 33 vertebrae. At the base of this structure is your sacrum, a triangular-shaped piece of bone that’s made up of 5 vertebrae that have fused together.
As a foundational structure, your sacrum is incredibly important, as are the two large sacroiliac joints that connect your sacrum to your pelvis.
Many people assume low back pain stems from herniated discs and sciatica, but SI joint dysfunction claims more than its fair share of the overall burden, being responsible for 15-30% of low back pain cases.
Your SI joints can lead to low back pain in several ways, including:
If your SI joints are too tight, it can limit mobility, which can lead to low back pain.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is hypermobility in the SI joints — they’re too loose. Loose SI joints can lead to instability and low back pain.
Sacroiliitis
This is a condition in which there’s general inflammation in your SI joints, which can develop for a number of reasons that range from pregnancy to digestive diseases.
Finding relief from SI joint pain
The first order of business when a patient presents with low back pain is to identify the underlying cause, which can be challenging.
Through a review of your symptoms, a physical exam, testing, diagnostic nerve blocks, and advanced imaging, we leave no stone unturned when it comes to making an accurate diagnosis, as there’s a lot of crossover in conditions in the low back. We need to make sure that we know what we’re up against, so we can treat the problem properly.
If we find that your SI joints are involved, we can try a number of therapies to bring you relief, such as:
In most cases, we use a combination of treatments that deliver both short- and long-term results that will help you move more freely.
If you want to get to the bottom of your low back pain, your first step is to schedule an evaluation with one of our spine experts. To get that ball rolling, please call or message one of our offices in Arlington or Fort Worth, Texas, today.
