Healing for Sacroiliac Joint Pain: Pilates Exercises
A type of pain in the butt that can also be a pain in the back! Sometimes caused by a traumatic injury, a fall, a lifetime at a desk job and even from pregnancy or live birth! This is a common issue as we sit longer and longer through the days but here is a nice opportunity to see how our private pilates studio can help you heal from SIJ pain!
Symptoms
Often I hear that this type of pain is deep within the lower back, hip crest or sacrum where the 2 hip bones meet. It can feel like an ache and at worst to some a sharp pain and stiffness. This can in turn cause pain down the joints of the legs (knee, ankle, feet) when chronic and severe.
What is the Sacroiliac Joint (SIJ)
There are 2 large hip bones (ilium) that connect to the sacrum. The point where the ilium and the sacrum meet is the SIJ.
This is the area where inflammation and pain occurs and as you look to the spine as a whole can also affect the lower limbs and the lower back.
Hip Bones in Detail
Flashcards I made in my college Anatomy class
Exercises that may need to be avoided
Sideline glute band clamshells
Sideline glute band bridges
Loaded squats
Lunges
Exercises that can help heal
Isolated Hamstring strengthening - reformer supine single leg hamstring curls
Isolated hip adductor strengthening - kneeling on reformer adductor
Preparations up to dead bug - mat exercise
Bird-dog - mat exercise
Glute medius and hip adductor stretches - butterfly stretch, glute medius roll outs
Lateral quadricep stretches - mat exercise sideline leg lifts
These suggestions will change over the course of the healing journey as overall the symptoms will change and eventually finding balance between muscles strength and length will become important.
Reference: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sacroiliitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20350747
Our MVNT Approach
A deep dive on our approach is in a previous post. Our MVNT method in summary focuses on all your past history, your lifestyle that may increase inflammation, and your goals and movement needs day to day.
These factors in mind develop into our full MVNT practice. Involved with in person or virtual pilates based training, following client education with an at home practice to continue daily. These become the stepping stones so that once each is met in ways that pain is reduced we continue to return your body to the abilities of it’s fullest potential while preventing further pain and discomfort that may involve more corrective exercises for imbalances in your musculature. Once each step is achieved we slowly progress to the movements the spine is able to do and challenge your areas of issue so that we provide the guidance and skills so that those movements no longer become an issue!
Our goal is to get you back to moving as your best self while preventing future set backs. So if this was informative to you and may interest you in becoming a client with me. Find our studio and see us for a consultation any day.