I found a sports medicine doc who is an expert on SI disfunction. It took me years to locate him. He diagnosed my problem as "Right on Right Sacral Torsion", He performed a manual manipulation of my sacral joint and hips. He prescribed Physical Therapy to be done by someone knowledgeable about this diagnosis. It has taken many many months of physical therapy that required 100 percent follow through on my part! It was all worth it! Eventually I gained enough muscle by doing specific exercises to hold the correction of this joint. So it is very possible for others to find relief of pain if you find knowledgeable doctors and physical therapists! However, you must be able to commit yourself to a demanding exercise program for life.
If you want help, you need to tell us like the other poster said what your symptoms are. SIJ dysfunctions are complicated varied and problematic after 30 years of SIJ dysfunctions and five minutes from another surgery. I ended up going for myofascial deep release for my neck and had the guy work on my SI joints, and that pretty much interrupted me going for a useless surgery! Many of us have osteoarthritis have tight sacroiliac joint conflicts have all kinds of problems with improper Lee working SI joints but if you want us to help you with some remedies, you need to explain what you’re experiencing . Good luck.
If you want help, you need to tell us like the other poster said what your symptoms are. SIJ dysfunctions are complicated varied and problematic after 30 years of SIJ dysfunctions and five minutes from another surgery. I ended up going for myofascial deep release for my neck and had the guy work on my SI joints, and that pretty much interrupted me going for a useless surgery! Many of us have osteoarthritis have tight sacroiliac joint conflicts have all kinds of problems with improper Lee working SI joints but if you want us to help you with some remedies, you need to explain what you’re experiencing . Good luck.
Thanks for the reply. Part of the reason I was asking about others symptoms was just to see if some of the crazy stuff I have going on had also been experienced by anyone else.
Brief history, I am fused at L5-S1 from 8 years ago. For several years now I have been doing pretty well until November 2023. Through a series of dumb moves on my part I injured myself. Symptoms were low back pain, burning and weakness in the legs. The weakness was fairly severe. I also was having significant pain around my tailbone and surrounding area. I was diagnosed with lumbar stenosis at l4-l5. Tried PT and an injection, both of which seemed to make my symptoms worse. The weakness and the pain around my tailbone/sacrum had become debilitating. So I agreed to have a laminectomy. I was always skeptical that this was going to help my tailbone/sacrum pain, but the surgeon felt this was referred pain from my low back and would resolve once the compressed nerves recovered. Unfortunately it was almost 8 weeks before they could get me in for surgery. The symptoms just kept getting worse over those 8 weeks.
Surgery was deemed a success and for 5-7 days post surgery all symptoms were gone. But day by day all of them except the weakness came back. I am almost 5 months post surgery and I am still struggling. They did do a follow up lumbar MRI and an MRI of my sacrum. Lumbar MRI showed inflammation at the surgical level, but no other issues. The sacral MRI did show some degenerative changes in my SI joints. So it was suggested I address that with injections and PT. I got some moderate temporary relief, but nothing lasting. I am currently seeing a chiropractor just to see if that helps, but nothing magical so far.
Here are my current symptoms:
Back pain just above the waistline.
Burning and aching pain all around my tailbone and deep into my pelvis that when really flared up will radiate into my groin.
Weird spasms in my low back and buttocks.
Sciatic type pain in my right hamstring area.
Burning and numbness in both feet and ankles. Those symptoms come and go but when really aggravated my ankles feel like they are on fire and it feels like I am walking on stumps due to the numbness in my feet.
The pain around my tailbone/sacrum gets much worse when standing or sitting for any length of time.
I could go on, but those are the main things.
Can all of this really be attributed to my SI Joints?
No. I think you need to resolve the INFLAMMATION at the surgical level. I am amazed that there was nothing which indicates its been resolved. Maybe when that is resolved you get some relief. You have to work on one thing at a time. You should be seeing your surgeon every 3 months until this is resolved. Waiting 8 weeks isn't bad - I waited 18 years. That was too long because my nerves died from being squished. So the numbness never went away. However, it can take 10 years for nerves to regrow! but at 5 months you should be feeling pretty good. One year mark its in the rear view mirror. You need to return to your surgeon. You are lucky 5-7 days things were good - 5-7 days I wanted. to die! haha. If you can find a myofascial tissue release therapist (you have to pay) do that for your SIJ. Get an RFA/RFI on your facet joints which were not operated on and get a pain management doctor and surgeon who will confer. I had 3 surgeons over the 18 years - the 4 was the one I did the surgery with. I will be going back for more but I knew that when I signed up. My tailbone always caused me pain. I just take opioids for that. I have no addiction issues after 25 years. It helps me exercise and get thru the bad weather arthritis. Yeah - the surgical inflammation can be causing all this! I don't think a chiropractor is worth it. Try acupuncture for some pain relief.
No. I think you need to resolve the INFLAMMATION at the surgical level. I am amazed that there was nothing which indicates its been resolved. Maybe when that is resolved you get some relief. You have to work on one thing at a time. You should be seeing your surgeon every 3 months until this is resolved. Waiting 8 weeks isn't bad - I waited 18 years. That was too long because my nerves died from being squished. So the numbness never went away. However, it can take 10 years for nerves to regrow! but at 5 months you should be feeling pretty good. One year mark its in the rear view mirror. You need to return to your surgeon. You are lucky 5-7 days things were good - 5-7 days I wanted. to die! haha. If you can find a myofascial tissue release therapist (you have to pay) do that for your SIJ. Get an RFA/RFI on your facet joints which were not operated on and get a pain management doctor and surgeon who will confer. I had 3 surgeons over the 18 years - the 4 was the one I did the surgery with. I will be going back for more but I knew that when I signed up. My tailbone always caused me pain. I just take opioids for that. I have no addiction issues after 25 years. It helps me exercise and get thru the bad weather arthritis. Yeah - the surgical inflammation can be causing all this! I don't think a chiropractor is worth it. Try acupuncture for some pain relief.
Thanks for all the information. I did just see a new pain management doctor last week. The one I had been seeing moved his practice out of state. I liked him, but I believe I like the new one even more. He has actually suggested a more targeted injection specifically at l4-l5 to hopefully reduce inflammation and calm some of my symptoms. Of course, they couldn’t get me in for 3 more weeks. I am hopeful that this will address at least some of my pain. He also ordered another lumbar MRI, since the numbness and pain in my feet are new symptoms. I am scheduled to have that this weekend. I am not really sure whether I want them to find something or nothing on the MRI.
Although I can’t say I have really gotten much pain relief from my few chiropractic visits, I can tell my right SI joint is moving more freely. He pointed out the difference from the left to the right on my first appointment. The left seemed to be moving freely but the right not at all. I was and still am way more sore/tender on my side. So maybe that will eventually help.
Again thanks for the information. If any else would like to comment, I am all ears.
Thanks for all the information. I did just see a new pain management doctor last week. The one I had been seeing moved his practice out of state. I liked him, but I believe I like the new one even more. He has actually suggested a more targeted injection specifically at l4-l5 to hopefully reduce inflammation and calm some of my symptoms. Of course, they couldn’t get me in for 3 more weeks. I am hopeful that this will address at least some of my pain. He also ordered another lumbar MRI, since the numbness and pain in my feet are new symptoms. I am scheduled to have that this weekend. I am not really sure whether I want them to find something or nothing on the MRI.
Although I can’t say I have really gotten much pain relief from my few chiropractic visits, I can tell my right SI joint is moving more freely. He pointed out the difference from the left to the right on my first appointment. The left seemed to be moving freely but the right not at all. I was and still am way more sore/tender on my side. So maybe that will eventually help.
Again thanks for the information. If any else would like to comment, I am all ears.
I want to be clear - the surgical inflammation does not sound like it is the pain management doctors responsibility. it seems like your surgeon would see you for a post op visit. You should have had a few of these along the way - a week, 3 weeks, driving clearance 6-8 weeks and 3 months. It seems to me this should have been dealt with then and not with a pain management doctor. IF the inflammation is caused by an infection or a reaction or an allergy to hardware or something like that the surgeon should be monitoring your post-surgical condition. Your surgeon can be doing simple xrays. Maybe, if you are far, you can get the xrays done local and have them sent to your surgery team. Mine follow up for one year. I'm concerned that you have all of these problems related to the surgery. Maybe get another surgical opinion. I woke up with a nerve pain in my foot. Its a damaged nerve that I couldn't feel before surgery. Now I can feel this damaged painful nerve. But IF I wanted to deal with it I'd go back to the surgeon, let him review the xrays he does in his office to be sure all is well and let him give me an ORDER for what he wants done. I guess my point is - you need to go back to your surgeon. Even if you can't go back get a video call scheduled!
I want to be clear - the surgical inflammation does not sound like it is the pain management doctors responsibility. it seems like your surgeon would see you for a post op visit. You should have had a few of these along the way - a week, 3 weeks, driving clearance 6-8 weeks and 3 months. It seems to me this should have been dealt with then and not with a pain management doctor. IF the inflammation is caused by an infection or a reaction or an allergy to hardware or something like that the surgeon should be monitoring your post-surgical condition. Your surgeon can be doing simple xrays. Maybe, if you are far, you can get the xrays done local and have them sent to your surgery team. Mine follow up for one year. I'm concerned that you have all of these problems related to the surgery. Maybe get another surgical opinion. I woke up with a nerve pain in my foot. Its a damaged nerve that I couldn't feel before surgery. Now I can feel this damaged painful nerve. But IF I wanted to deal with it I'd go back to the surgeon, let him review the xrays he does in his office to be sure all is well and let him give me an ORDER for what he wants done. I guess my point is - you need to go back to your surgeon. Even if you can't go back get a video call scheduled!
I have been back for multiple follow up visits, but only once did I see the surgeon. The other visits have been with the PA. They did send me for an EMG (prior to the numbness starting), which showed that my nerve pain in my ankles and lower leg was coming from l4-l5-s1. I was informed of this at my last appointment with the PA. At which time he informed me that he had spoken to the surgeon and that there was basically nothing surgically that could be done for me. In fact additional surgery would likely make things worse. I am not sure what I was hoping they would say, but that wasn’t it. Essentially they told me I needed to consult with pain management. So I have done so. I do have to say I feel a bit abandoned. I did seek another opinion from a different surgeon in a larger city. For the most part he agreed with the course of action, but said he would personally like to do more injections before he would proceed with any other treatments.
Thanks for the information. I have actually started seeing a chiropractor, who happens to be a friend. He is a very “gentle” chiropractor. We have just started treatment so I haven’t seen much progress yet. I have had a few injections without much success, but I am hopeful chiropractic can help me. I have had some pretty nasty pain for going on 8 months. Hoping for some relief.
Connect
Connect
Like
Helpful
Hug
Can I ask what your symptoms were? Also, where was this sports medicine doc?
I am very glad you are doing better. I know it is miserable.
http://www.thelowback.com/fix.htm I entered this by mistake. May be interesting anyway, since I can't delete it.
Thanks.
If you want help, you need to tell us like the other poster said what your symptoms are. SIJ dysfunctions are complicated varied and problematic after 30 years of SIJ dysfunctions and five minutes from another surgery. I ended up going for myofascial deep release for my neck and had the guy work on my SI joints, and that pretty much interrupted me going for a useless surgery! Many of us have osteoarthritis have tight sacroiliac joint conflicts have all kinds of problems with improper Lee working SI joints but if you want us to help you with some remedies, you need to explain what you’re experiencing . Good luck.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
3 ReactionsThanks for the reply. Part of the reason I was asking about others symptoms was just to see if some of the crazy stuff I have going on had also been experienced by anyone else.
Brief history, I am fused at L5-S1 from 8 years ago. For several years now I have been doing pretty well until November 2023. Through a series of dumb moves on my part I injured myself. Symptoms were low back pain, burning and weakness in the legs. The weakness was fairly severe. I also was having significant pain around my tailbone and surrounding area. I was diagnosed with lumbar stenosis at l4-l5. Tried PT and an injection, both of which seemed to make my symptoms worse. The weakness and the pain around my tailbone/sacrum had become debilitating. So I agreed to have a laminectomy. I was always skeptical that this was going to help my tailbone/sacrum pain, but the surgeon felt this was referred pain from my low back and would resolve once the compressed nerves recovered. Unfortunately it was almost 8 weeks before they could get me in for surgery. The symptoms just kept getting worse over those 8 weeks.
Surgery was deemed a success and for 5-7 days post surgery all symptoms were gone. But day by day all of them except the weakness came back. I am almost 5 months post surgery and I am still struggling. They did do a follow up lumbar MRI and an MRI of my sacrum. Lumbar MRI showed inflammation at the surgical level, but no other issues. The sacral MRI did show some degenerative changes in my SI joints. So it was suggested I address that with injections and PT. I got some moderate temporary relief, but nothing lasting. I am currently seeing a chiropractor just to see if that helps, but nothing magical so far.
Here are my current symptoms:
Back pain just above the waistline.
Burning and aching pain all around my tailbone and deep into my pelvis that when really flared up will radiate into my groin.
Weird spasms in my low back and buttocks.
Sciatic type pain in my right hamstring area.
Burning and numbness in both feet and ankles. Those symptoms come and go but when really aggravated my ankles feel like they are on fire and it feels like I am walking on stumps due to the numbness in my feet.
The pain around my tailbone/sacrum gets much worse when standing or sitting for any length of time.
I could go on, but those are the main things.
Can all of this really be attributed to my SI Joints?
Has anyone else experienced similar symptoms?
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionNo. I think you need to resolve the INFLAMMATION at the surgical level. I am amazed that there was nothing which indicates its been resolved. Maybe when that is resolved you get some relief. You have to work on one thing at a time. You should be seeing your surgeon every 3 months until this is resolved. Waiting 8 weeks isn't bad - I waited 18 years. That was too long because my nerves died from being squished. So the numbness never went away. However, it can take 10 years for nerves to regrow! but at 5 months you should be feeling pretty good. One year mark its in the rear view mirror. You need to return to your surgeon. You are lucky 5-7 days things were good - 5-7 days I wanted. to die! haha. If you can find a myofascial tissue release therapist (you have to pay) do that for your SIJ. Get an RFA/RFI on your facet joints which were not operated on and get a pain management doctor and surgeon who will confer. I had 3 surgeons over the 18 years - the 4 was the one I did the surgery with. I will be going back for more but I knew that when I signed up. My tailbone always caused me pain. I just take opioids for that. I have no addiction issues after 25 years. It helps me exercise and get thru the bad weather arthritis. Yeah - the surgical inflammation can be causing all this! I don't think a chiropractor is worth it. Try acupuncture for some pain relief.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionThanks for all the information. I did just see a new pain management doctor last week. The one I had been seeing moved his practice out of state. I liked him, but I believe I like the new one even more. He has actually suggested a more targeted injection specifically at l4-l5 to hopefully reduce inflammation and calm some of my symptoms. Of course, they couldn’t get me in for 3 more weeks. I am hopeful that this will address at least some of my pain. He also ordered another lumbar MRI, since the numbness and pain in my feet are new symptoms. I am scheduled to have that this weekend. I am not really sure whether I want them to find something or nothing on the MRI.
Although I can’t say I have really gotten much pain relief from my few chiropractic visits, I can tell my right SI joint is moving more freely. He pointed out the difference from the left to the right on my first appointment. The left seemed to be moving freely but the right not at all. I was and still am way more sore/tender on my side. So maybe that will eventually help.
Again thanks for the information. If any else would like to comment, I am all ears.
I want to be clear - the surgical inflammation does not sound like it is the pain management doctors responsibility. it seems like your surgeon would see you for a post op visit. You should have had a few of these along the way - a week, 3 weeks, driving clearance 6-8 weeks and 3 months. It seems to me this should have been dealt with then and not with a pain management doctor. IF the inflammation is caused by an infection or a reaction or an allergy to hardware or something like that the surgeon should be monitoring your post-surgical condition. Your surgeon can be doing simple xrays. Maybe, if you are far, you can get the xrays done local and have them sent to your surgery team. Mine follow up for one year. I'm concerned that you have all of these problems related to the surgery. Maybe get another surgical opinion. I woke up with a nerve pain in my foot. Its a damaged nerve that I couldn't feel before surgery. Now I can feel this damaged painful nerve. But IF I wanted to deal with it I'd go back to the surgeon, let him review the xrays he does in his office to be sure all is well and let him give me an ORDER for what he wants done. I guess my point is - you need to go back to your surgeon. Even if you can't go back get a video call scheduled!
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionI have been back for multiple follow up visits, but only once did I see the surgeon. The other visits have been with the PA. They did send me for an EMG (prior to the numbness starting), which showed that my nerve pain in my ankles and lower leg was coming from l4-l5-s1. I was informed of this at my last appointment with the PA. At which time he informed me that he had spoken to the surgeon and that there was basically nothing surgically that could be done for me. In fact additional surgery would likely make things worse. I am not sure what I was hoping they would say, but that wasn’t it. Essentially they told me I needed to consult with pain management. So I have done so. I do have to say I feel a bit abandoned. I did seek another opinion from a different surgeon in a larger city. For the most part he agreed with the course of action, but said he would personally like to do more injections before he would proceed with any other treatments.
My problem is a muscle, not a bone. Do Chiropractors work on muscles?