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Sacroiliac Joint Pain
The sacroiliac joints sit where the spine meets the pelvis and move only a few millimetres, but they can be a genuine source of pain. It is typically felt low and to one side, and people can often point to it with one finger. It is common in pregnancy and after a jarring fall, and it usually responds well to a mix of hands-on treatment and targeted strengthening.
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Does this sound like you?
Most people have several of these, not all of them.
- Pain low on one side of the back, over the dimple of the pelvis
- Pain you can point to with a single finger
- Worse rolling over in bed, getting out of a car, or standing on one leg
- Referral into the buttock or the back of the thigh, rarely past the knee
- A sense of the pelvis feeling unstable or giving way
Why it happens
- Pregnancy and the post-natal period, when ligament laxity increases
- A fall onto the buttock or a heavy landing on one leg
- Repeated one-sided loading — long strides, running camber, standing on one hip
- Leg length difference or altered gait after another injury
- Weakness through the deep hip and pelvic muscles
What we would do about it
Roughly in this order — each step waits for the one before it.
- Assessment to distinguish it from the lower back, which is where it is most often confused
- Manual therapy and mobilisation to the joint and surrounding tissue
- Deep hip and pelvic floor strengthening — the main long-term answer
- Advice on sleeping positions and getting in and out of the car
- A supportive belt in some cases, particularly during pregnancy
- Graded return to walking distance and single-leg load
See a doctor first if
- Your pain followed a significant injury
- It is getting worse rather than settling
- It comes with numbness, weakness or unexplained weight loss
This page is general information, not a diagnosis. Symptoms overlap between conditions, so the right treatment depends on an assessment.
Often treated as back pain for months
The sacroiliac joint responds to quite different treatment from the lower back, so telling them apart matters. That is what an assessment is for. Ask a question first, or call us on 0403 907 587.
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Other back conditions we treat
Related reading: lower back pain it is often mistaken for and pain on the side of the hip.
General information only, not advice about your own problem — nothing here replaces an assessment. Source: Sacroiliac Joint Syndrome on Physiopedia.
