Help with SI Joint and Hamstring pain/glute weakness

I’m a 69 year old guy who used to be very active, started having significant back problems and received S/I joint injections quarterly. While getting PT on my shoulder, I mentioned that my back was killing me. She recommended I look up glute exercises on YouTube. I did and have chosen several exercises to focus on, including pelvic thrusts, and to my dismay, back issues decreased by 90%.

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I’ve been having the same type of pain on my right lower limb. I’ve been going to PT for 2 months with some benefit. I also see a Myofascial Release (MFR) massage therapist who just returned from vacation. I saw her on Monday this week and I have never felt better and I no longer have pain in my right leg or sciatic area.

I had a L5-S1 fusion in 2020 and in 2021 started with other various back and hip pain. Seems once a fusion is performed, another part of the spine has to handle the load. In my case it seemed to be the right SI joint. As I am a daily golfer I spent significant time looking for pain relief as right lower back and hip pain often prohibited play. With the help of a good friend spine doctor and his recommendation of an excellent pain doctor I underwent several investigative procedures to identify the pain cause and it was determined definitively to be my SI joint. I underwent an SI joint radio frequency ablation and have had almost 100% relief. The first procedure lasted 18 months before symptoms returned and I repeated the ablation several months ago with once again almost total relief. I continue to play golf daily and at 74 years old can still shoot my age on occasion. Find a good pain specialist willing to develop a program to identify your pain cause instead of just guessing.

I have SI instability and degenerative disc disease (lumbar and cervical). My SI moves often, causing one leg to seem shorter than the other which in turn throws my whole back out of whack. Mayofacial Release has helped realign my SI and a combination of PT and Pilates* has helped me build strength in my SI muscles. I still have hamstring and glute pain, but am more stable today.

* Balanced Physical Therapy and Pilates offers classes for people with back problems.

Does it hurt more when you sit down?

Since I have similar, and have had similar, I recommend you get into see an orthopedic surgeon to do a simple xray and make sure the fusion surgery is still intact and you don't need to add fusion to L5 in the mix. I am there with ya! My SI joint causes me trouble periodically, as the pieces outside of the fusion need some attention now, as the scoliosis puts more pressure on my spine with aging. "Work down" is my motto! Not bottom-up the way they would like us to do! I periodically wear a simple cheap corset-style brace for half a day, and I'm good to go for another couple weeks each time.

In the same boat and have to do you specific exercises every single day, sometimes a couple times a day, or I go bad, quick. For the past five years, i've been a practitioner of doctor stewart mcgill's big three.. everyone on youtube's got a version of it so figure it out..What have you got to lose?

@marysara1 I have had issues with SI joints that allow the pelvis alignment to shift, I have also done a lot of MFR. Lately, I am finding that I need to stretch everything that connects to the pelvis or it can get stuck in a bad position causing leg or thigh pains. I stretch hip flexor and performis muscles, the front of the thigh and straddle. After those muscles are moving properly, I can do a pelvis leveling exercise that my PT showed me. I also try to keep my hips strong by not pushing off with my hands when getting up off a chair. Riding my horse at a walk also does wonders for my core strength and pelvis alignment. It strengthens the muscles that need to work in concert with each other for normal alignment.