Tag Archives: si joint pain

How Often is Low Back Pain Not Coming from the Low Back?

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Low back pain will affect 90% of individuals at some point in life. It is pretty much inevitable (like taxes) that it will occur, and fortunately most of the time it resolves uneventfully.AZ pain clinics

About 5 to 10% of low back pain becomes chronic in nature. When a person is experiencing chronic low back pain, how often is an area outside the low back the source of that pain?

Several studies have looked at this question, and the answer is approximately 25% of the time. In one out of every four individuals dealing with chronic low back pain, either the hip or the sacroiliac joint is the actual source of the pain. To be fair, it may be a situation where both the low back and hip for SI joint are causing the pain in combination.

In the work up for low back pain, there are very good ways of delineating where the pain is Pain clinic Scottsdalecoming from. Unfortunately, studies have also shown that slightly over 10% of the time sources of pain cannot be figured out. X-rays of a person’s hip joint can show whether moderate to severe arthritis is present. The doctor can see joint narrowing, bone spurs, and other evidence of arthritis on the films. Along with this, physical examination can tell whether the person has tenderness over the hip joint, pain with range of motion of the hip, and also whether or not there is pain outside the hip joint or down the side of the thigh.

It may be that an injection of numbing medicine into the hip joint will become necessary to see how much pain relief is achieved in the hip and low back. If an individual becomes pain-free after this diagnostic treatment, the answer is fairly obvious. The reason a hip problem can cause low back pain is if significant arthritis is present a person may be overcompensating when they walk and back pain may result.

The sacroiliac joint is located below the low back on both the right and left side of where the pelvis meets up with the sacrum. These joints contain cartilage just like others throughout the body and maintain a small amount of motion at 2 to 4 mm in each Pain doctors in Phoenixdirection. When arthritis occurs and cartilage is lost, inflammation may ensue and a person experiences pain that waxes and wanes.

There are multiple ways of telling if the SI joint pain is the source of the low back discomfort. Physical examination with provocative maneuvers can help reproduce the pain.

The best way to tell if a person’s SI joint pain is causing the back pain is to perform a diagnostic injection of numbing medicine into and around the joint. If the back pain is substantially relieved, then the SI joint may be the generator of the pain. Diagnostic injections may work simply for a few days, or it may help for months.

The bottom line with studies looking at where low back pain is coming from show that in one fourth of individuals, the pain is coming from somewhere else. This should be kept in Pain doctors in Arizonamind if low back pain specific treatments are being performed and inadequate relief is being achieved. It may be that additional treatment efforts should be focused on the hip or the SI joint to truly help relieve the persons low back discomfort.

If you are having back, hip, or SI joint area pain and live in Arizona, then the Board Certified, Fellowship trained pain doctors at Arizona Pain Specialists can help you. At these pain clinics in Arizona, the AZ pain doctors are diligent about locating the source of the pain and reducing or eliminating it.

The pain clinics in Phoenix and surrounding areas accept most major health insurance along with Medicare, Medicaid, AHCCCS, Personal Injury, Worker’s Compensation and self pay.

You do not have to live in pain as your status quo. Call Arizona Pain to schedule at a location near you today – (602) 507-6550.

Could Your Low Back Pain be Coming from the Sacroiliac Joint?

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There is a 90% chance that low back pain will affect you at some point in your lifetime. For pain clinics in Phoenixan unfortunate small few, the back pain will turn chronic and become a daily problem. it is not an extremely well-known fact, but up to 25% of chronic low back pain is actually coming from a problem in the sacroiliac joint.

The human body has two sacroiliac joints, and they are situated where the pelvis bone called the ilium connects to the sacrum on the right and left side. The joint has cartilage like other weight-bearing joints, but experiences only a few millimeters of movement at a time. Nevertheless, it is enough movement to create pain in a joint that has arthritis. Unfortunately, the sacroiliac joint is prone to arthritis with aging and injury just like other cartilaginous joints in the body.

Pain that comes from the sacroiliac joint may radiate downwards into the buttocks and thighs, or it may radiate upwards into the low back.

SI joint painThere are some physical examination techniques that a pain management doctor can use to see if sacroiliac joint is the source of pain. X-rays and MRIs do not tend to be overly helpful, and there is no telltale sign in a patient’s history that means the SI joint is definitely the source of problem.

When it comes to treatment of SI joint pain, there are many options for helping get the pain under control. This includes physical therapy, chiropractic manipulations, Anti-inflammatory medication, with one of the better treatments being pain management injections.

There are two types of pain injections for the sacroiliac joint. One type of sacroiliac joint injection involves placing medication inside the joint itself, while the other injection is called a lateral branch block. The first type of injection is similar to a steroid injection into the hip or the knee, where the medicine is placed right in to the joint itself. It can be difficult to get into the sacroiliac joint as it is often an irregular and jagged joint. if done properly, these injections may last for a few months and provide excellent pain relief.

The other type of injection, a lateral branch block, involves putting numbing medicine outside the joint in the area where the tiny nerve endings that supply sensation to the joint SI joint injectionreside. These injections are very good at telling the pain doctor whether or not the sacroiliac joint is the source of the pain, while at the same time being able to provide a few weeks to a few months of pain relief as well.

The bottom line here is that if you are experiencing low back pain and traditional treatment and injections for low back are not working, then the sacroiliac joint should be considered as a potential source of your pain.

Arizona Pain Specialists have Board Certified and Fellowship trained Arizona pain doctors at multiple locations throughout the Valley. These pain doctors are well-versed in diagnosing and treating sacroiliac joint pain along with low back issues as well.

The pain clinics in Phoenix area accept most major medical insurance, including being an AHCCCS pain clinic and also have chiropractors, physical rehabilitation doctors and acupuncturists at each Valley location.

For one number scheduling, call 602-507-6550 today.

How to Get Pain Relief from Sacroiliac Joint Pain

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For those who suffer from pain in the sacroiliac joint, called sacroiliitis, the pain may be bothersome on a daily basis. Studies have shown that upwards of 25% of low back pain Sacroiliac joint painmay be coming from a problem in the sacroiliac joint.

As a person ages, the sacroiliac joint may develop arthritis similar to other joints with cartilage surfaces. The sacroiliac joint normally does not see a lot of movement with motion, but it is enough to cause pain if the joint is arthritic. From time to time, the arthritis may exacerbate with inflammation being sparked up, which is where the term sacroiliitis comes from.

There really isn’t a good surgical option for those suffering from sacroiliitis. In the last few years, there has been a push to develop a sacroiliac joint fusion device, but studies so far are not long-term enough to show benefit versus the risk involved. And the studies I saw were industry funded.

When it comes to treating sacroiliitis nonoperatively, there are quite a few effective options si joint pain treatmentavailable. The first is very basic and includes over-the-counter medications such as Tylenol and anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen and naproxen. they should always be taken according to the manufacturers recommended dosage and for mild to moderate sacroiliac joint pain can be very effective for pain relief.

For a step up in medication management, a primary care doctor or an Arizona pain clinic doctor may prescribe short-term narcotics. For an acute exacerbation, narcotic medications short-term may be very effective. Anything other than this should not be utilized, as chronic narcotics for sacroiliac joint pain are a bad idea.

Additionally, if the person has an exacerbation which is causing significant radiating pain and muscle spasms, short-term muscle relaxers may be helpful as well.

tens unit

TENS Unit

Treatment with the chiropractor or physical therapy clinic can also be very helpful for sacroiliac joint pain. The chiropractor can perform spinal manipulations which can help alter the SI joint alignment and provide relief instantly. Usually it is not a permanent pain relief and regular visits will be required. Additional treatments that the Phoenix chiropractic office can perform include electrical stimulation along with physical rehabilitation.

Treatment with a tens unit can be helpful with slight electrical impulses going from the unit through foam pads and travel through the soft tissues. These can alter the way that a person’s brain perceives pain signals and can help alleviate pain and reduce the need for narcotic medications.

Physical therapy treatment can strengthen up the gluteal muscles along with the iliopsoas and other muscles that surround the sacroiliac joint. This can take pressure off of the arthritic joint and help relieve pain similar to when a person is the arthritis strengthening up those muscles.

When it comes to interventional pain management, there are a couple different injections which can help. The first is a steroid injection directly into the sacroiliac joint. If you have ever seen on a bone model what a sacroiliac joint looks like, it is a very jagged and irregular joint. Therefore, it can be difficult even with fluoroscopy to navigate the needle properly into the joint and get steroid throughout its surface area. Therefore it is important to have it done by a pain doctor under fluoroscopy and it may also be necessary to have si joint injectionthe needle placed in multiple areas of the joint to properly ensure coverage of the steroid. SI injections work well approximately half of the time at relieving about half the person’s pain for upwards of a few weeks to a few months.

Another type of injection that is performed for sacroiliac joint pain is a lateral branch block. The sacroiliac joint receives sensation from tiny nerve endings called the lateral branches. Injecting around these lateral branches with numbing medicine can relieve pain for a few weeks to a few months and also serve a diagnostic purpose by telling the pain doctor that the SI joint is the actual source of a person’s pain.

si joint radiofrequency ablation

Radiofrequency ablation deadens the tiny nerve endings that are supplying sensation, providing pain relief for 3 to 12 months in the SI joint.

If the injection works and then subsequently wears off, the newest treatment for pain management for SI joint pain is a radiofrequency ablation. Studies are now showing that radiofrequency ablation for sacroiliac joint pain works well for 50% of patients at relieving at least 50% of the pain for 3 to 6 months. This is very encouraging and the treatment is enjoying increasing popularity as a result of multiple studies showing its benefit.

If you live in Arizona and are in need of the best AZ pain center for getting relief, call Arizona Pain Specialists. The clinics have multiple AZ pain center locations and offer Board-Certified and Award-Winning team of pain management doctors in Arizona and chiropractors.

This includes a location in the East Valley which includes a Chandler chiropractor and a pain management doctor, the location in Scottsdale and also one in the West Valley with a Glendale pain management doctor.

For one number scheduling, call 602-507-6550 today.