sacroiliac pain?

[myk]

i've got a lot of sacroiliac pain these days. i am a bit prone to it, and i can usually pop everything back in place myself, but it's not working. obviously i'll be going to the chiropractor but there will be times (like now) when the office is closed and i'm in pain.

any suggestions for how to deal?? i'm limping around and can't find a comfy position to sleep, this isn't fun

[HeatherB]

Oh I SO know your pain! My SI joint has a major tendency towards having issues, not helped at all by being pg. Massaging various ligaments and muscles in the area can help a lot when you can't get to a chiro. I just google for massage for si joint and found a video with one stretch that helps me some:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuozn0i-De8&feature=fvw
There are lots of other "you might be interested in.." type videos that might be worth trying, too. There are some massage techniques that a friend or spouse could help with, too. One if essentially massaging the glute, using an elbow (so not yours!), in little circular motions, creating a pattern on the glute like:
X X
X X
X X
where each X is a pressing in and rotating of the elbow.

Another thing that I can sort of do myself is massaging the ligaments and muscles extending along the side of the leg from the hip down towards the knee. You rub, firmly, down as you pull the knee up towards you.

Both of these can be painful for me but they do a lot for releasing the tension and pulling on the SI joint, thereby helping out that pain significantly.

Also, squatting sometimes helps my SI joint.

I hope you feel better quickly!

[wolfmom]

ah yes, I know that pain well. I have some mad arthritis all throughout my lower back in addition to the usual pregnancy joint stuff. Not a fun combo. I have actually found that icing my back has been really helpful. I think the ice (I use a soft, refreezable pack) decreases the inflammation enough that the joint can shift around enough to get back to where it should be. I used to think I would like heat better but after trying both, the ice really does the trick!

I also like squatting.

I hope you get some relief!

[maciascl]

Me too! One thing that I have found to be helpful is to squeeze my glutes as tight as I can, hold for a few seconds & release slowly. I do this over and over for a few minutes and it helps to loosen things up a bit. Sometime it is realy hard to squeeze very tight at first but I find the more I do the tighter I can squeeze.

Sitting on a birth/exercize ball works well too! Good luck!