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Hi Lani - hoping you can help me with some suggestions. I am a 55 year old woman, always been slim and fairly fit. I exercise daily by walking, yoga, and have recently started up with core ab work again. I also x-country ski. I was a lifelong runner up til about 4 years ago, when my SI joint kept getting stuck more frequently. I have a leg length difference of about 1/2 inch, maybe more, but it has never been measured by xray. My SI joint gets stuck, and then my L4 and 5 and sometimes my S1 become stuck also. I go to a physiotherapist who specializes in manual therapy, who 'unsticks' them. I do the stretches she has given me daily. My physio blames it on aging. I recently had an xray of my back which showed that my SI joints and vertebrae are in excellent condition, with no sign of any deterioration. I have a very physically demanding job part time as a nurse. I am wondering if you can offer me any insights, or give me any exercises to do to prevent this from continually happening. Not to mention the discomfort, it is costing me way too much money! Thanks.

Hey Melinda,

Ouch! By "stuck", do you mean it has the sense of freezing up and you can't move properly? Constant pain? Out of commission until you see the physiotherapist?

It seems to me that with all the investments you've had to make in phsyiotherapists, you should have an arsenal of muscle balancing exercises and stretches that you could put together in a schedule for home. Yes?

What may well be happening is that habituated movement patterns are keeping the situation persistent. Along with chronic inflammation and acute attacks - well, there you have it.

I've had many many nurses as students and clients and back problems have emerged as an occupational hazard - sometimes serious. Extreme care needs to be taken when reaching and lifting, but I know you already know that. The thing is, it can become imperative to pay attention to it. The "age" thing is partly because we've done something so long that it's become chronic - like moving in a certain way.

So, in concert with whatever physical therapy exercise your physio can give you, a focus on posture and alignment would be extremely beneficial to you. It can make the difference between perpetuation injury and practicing patterns of movement throughout the day that are not inflaming the problem. Correct anatomical alignment means you walk with your feet straight ahead (most of us turn out at toes, the knees collapse in, the tail goes out, the back gets stressed - and then we lift things on top if it!). Shoulders stacked over hips with chest open.

An excellent course of study for posture is the T-Tapp Wellness Workout here: [url=Flag this message
http://www.t-tapp.com/affiliate/idevaff ... php?id=107 ]T-Tapp Wellness[/url]. The Basic Workout Plus program would be a great place to start. You could also undertake study of Alexander Technique to assist with good functional movement patterns. It's important to carry the lessons beyond a workout, and to integrate into movement throughout the day so that we don't sink into old movement patterns, perpetuating problems.

Good news that there is no deterioration! The inflammation is giving discomfort, and may demand a period of rest from whatever is the most offending activity.

Lani

Thanks Lani! I hsould have added that by 'stuck', those joints are non longer moving - it is very achy to me, and restricts my movement. My physio said she thinks I have a high pain tolerance, so I guess some people might experience it as pain, while I call it sore, and hurting. I am seeing my physio in a couple of days, so I will ask her for muscle strengthening/rebalancing exercises. She has never given me any. I do think that because this is happening so often that I am getting chronic inflammation from it. I will check out the Ttapp routine. I investigated a book about the Ecoscue methtod, but didn't see anything in it that would apply to me. I am going to try a 1/4" lift in my shoe again, which I used for years, but haven't used for a few years now. I should add that I had thought about investigating the Alexander technique, but sort of forgot about it, so thanks for the reminder! (edited 3x to add or correct things!)