Hello Esther. Thank you as always for your great work. I have an SI joint issue that has been a problem since November of 08 (going on 8 months of treating). It is MUCH improved with Gokhale, acupunture, massage and chiropractic, but I am still not pursuing my love of athletics (spinning, trekking). How long does a typical recovery period last for a mid-to-difficult case with attentive treatment from quality practictioners? Are we talking more months or more years?
SI Joint, Approx Recovery Time from Injury
June 4, 2009 - 3:29pm | 2 posts
#1
SI Joint, Approx Recovery Time from Injury
5 hours 13 min ago
09/10/2008 - 8:36pm
Here is my response to Yonat, who sounds like she has very mild sacroiliac strain leftover from an old injury: http://gokhalewellness.com/forum
Your strain is more severe, so a different approach is called for. You have made postural changes and gotten good accompanying bodywork. You don't have to wait till you are all better to pick up the activity level. The key is to be measured in your activity. It's okay for the S.I. joint to talk to you a little, but not okay for it to get majorly inflamed. So get more active doing something that doesn't cause a lot of S.I. joint strain, do it just a little at first, and rest it and treat or self-treat it after activity. The other thing I recommend is to get a sacral belt while doing anything that aggravates the area. And as it heals use the belt less and less. The belt prevents further injury and holds the joint steady so your muscles don't feel obliged to tighten up to steady / protect the area.
As I said to Yonat, ligaments don't get much circulation so they are slow to heal. If you then add muscle tension, this slows the healing even further. So just use a sacral belt to avoid the secondary muscles tension when you are planning to do something challenging to the joint (asymmetric strain, twisting,..) You will feel a lot more comfortable and be able to exercise more vigorously too.
Onward and upward!