(SIJ) Joint Dysfunction

Sacroiliitis is a medical condition that results from the inflammation of either one or both of your sacroiliac joints. It causes pain in the buttocks and lowerback of the body; prolonged standing as well as climbing stairs worsens the pain. PAL Physiotherapy provides Sacroiliitis Physiotherapy treatment in Gurgaon under professional and experienced physiotherapists. It’s often gone undiagnosed, because its symptoms are mistaken for other back pain conditions. Sacroiliitis can made under control through proper medication and physical therapy. Sacroiliitis is often seen associated with Sacroiliac Joint dysfunction or SIJ dysfunction although there’s a big difference between the two conditions. The rootcause behind each of them is simply different. Sacroiliitis occurs as a result of inflammation of sacroiliac joint whereas SIJ dysfunction causes due to the abnormal twists or motions taking place within the joint.

Causes

The Sacroiliitis can be caused due to various reasons, some of them are given below.

• Severe Injury: If you have ever hurt your lower spine and that too very badly, chances are high for a sacroiliac joint damage.
• Pregnancy: During pregnancy, the body bears weight and that results in pressure on the joint. During delivery, the joint loosens up to prepare for childbirth.
• Infection: If the joint has been infected by any means that can cause inflammation results in the condition. Urinary tract infection leads to the same.
• Arthritis: Arthritis has a major part in causing inflammation of the spine. Out of all kinds of arthritis; ankylosing and spondylitis can highly affect the joint and the former one causes inflammation of hips and spine altogether.
• If a person takes intravenous drugs, there is a high chance of getting affected by sacroiliitis.

Symptoms

The early signs and symptoms of Sacroiliitis includes –

• Stiffness and pain in the lower back, buttocks,and back of legs.
• Mild Fever
• Stiffness in the hips and lower back of the body.

Also, the below activities aggravate sacroiliitis to a great extent.

• Sitting and standing for a prolonged period.
• Regularly climbing the stairs
• Running

Risks Associated

The risk of sacroiliitis increases with age. People develop depression and sleeplessness due to this medical state.  Insomnia is also often witnessed as an aftermath of the condition. If properly treated, complete relief from this is guaranteed.

Diagnosis

If you have pain in your lower back or hip, the doctor will check for Sacroiliitis by making your leg move in a certain direction so that it stresses the joint. Besides that, physical examination and medical imaging techniques such as X-ray is done to understand how much damage has been caused to the Sacroiliitis joint and accordingly, treatments are suggested. In severe cases, there might be a need for MRI or USG to detect the exact damage and cause of the pain in your sacroiliac joint.

Treatments

The treatment for Sacroiliitis are available in plenty. There are medications which can be orally taken to reduce the pain and heal the injury or the damage caused to the joint. If you have excess pain and the damage is severe, then the doctor might advise for surgery. Apart from all these, physical therapy is an effective treatment for Sacroiliitis Joint Dysfunction in Gurgaon from the roots.  A physical therapist designs a specific treatment based on a complete evaluation of your condition.

This may include:

• Manual therapy: This is quite effective for sacroiliitis as well as SIJ dysfunction. The therapy includes soft tissue release and massage for tight and sore muscles, hence relieving pain. It uses gentle movements to improve the mobility of the hip, SIJ, and lower back.
• Flexibility exercises. Stretching exercises is a great way to improve the flexibility of tight muscles. They may also help decrease stress on the sacroiliac joint during daily activities.
• Strengthening exercises. Strengthening provides ultimate stability to sacroiliac and spinal joints, which helps to reduce ligamentpain. These exercises give more focus on weak muscles like lower abdominal, pelvic floor, and buttocks muscles.
• Body mechanics.  Your physical therapist will teach you how to improve the body movements based on your daily activities. Activities involving sitting, lifting and carrying objects can be improved.
• Modalities. Hot and cold treatments come over here that are often prescribed to relax tight muscles prior to treatment or to reduce pain following a workout.
• Braces:The therapist may also recommend wearing a sacroiliac belt that provides support to sacroiliac joints. It’s designed to provide stability during the daytoday activities. Eventually, you’ll regain the strength and improve flexibility. It’s a great means of help for pregnant women.

The physical therapist determines a personalized treatment program after conducting a thorough physical evaluation. If further medical checkups are required, the therapist may refer you to a physician. Further, the symptoms of sacroiliac joint dysfunction or SIJ dysfunction are often associated with that of sciatica, so a detailed diagnosis of the condition should be done before going for any treatment.