The sacroiliac joint, located in your pelvic region, can be a common source of low back and buttock pain. Sacroiliitis is the term used to describe the pain emanating from this joint typically caused by inflammation, and is often also referred to as sacroiliac joint dysfunction. Most patients have difficulty sitting, experience extreme lower back pain, and cannot cross their legs.
HOW DO I KNOW IF I HAVE SACROILIITIS?
Sacroiliitis and sacroiliac joint dysfunction are interchangeably used at times, but sacroiliitis is a condition that refers to the inflammation of the sacroiliac joint, while sacroiliac joint dysfunction is the condition that refers to the pain from the sacroiliac joint.
Both of these conditions are caused from abnormal motion in the sacroiliac joint, either from too much motion or too little motion. The most common symptoms of each include some combination of lower back pain, leg pain (front or back), hip pain, and/or buttock pain, general stiffness felt in the hips and lower back, and pain that worsens when sitting for long periods of time or when rolling over in bed.
A wide range of factors can cause sacroiliitis or sacroiliac joint dysfunction to develop, including types of spinal arthritis such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and degenerative arthritis, disc degeneration, trauma such as a car accident or fall, and complications from pregnancy and childbirth.
WHAT IS THE RIGHT TREATMENT FOR ME?
Our doctors are experts in finding the solutions to your sacroiliitis. First, in order to correctly diagnose you with sacroiliitis, a diagnostic test called a sacroiliac joint block is needed. Our doctors will inject medication into the joint to temporarily relieve pain. If the pain is relieved, diagnosis is typically certain.
After being diagnosed, our doctors initially recommend conservative treatment, such as cortisone injections, physical therapy, or radiofrequency ablation to eliminate your sacroiliac joint pain. If conservative methods fail to relieve the pain, outpatient sacroiliac joint fusion surgery is the next step.