If you've struggled with sacro-iliac joint pain in your practise, you're not alone. I’m going to share with you my experience with this all too common 'yoga injury' and empower you with the knowledge to help you avoid it in future. So that you can continue to thrive in your practise on & off the mat.
Where is the Sacroiliac Joint Exactly?
It's the joint between your sacrum and your pelvic bones (ilium). There is one on the left and one on the right. These joints are a continuation of the spine and are inherently stable allowing only a very small amount, a few mm or degrees of movement in 3 planes:
↔️ Tilting (forwards/backwards),
↕️ Sliding (up/down)
🔄 Rotation.
Sacroiliac joint dysfunction occurs when the ligaments on one or both sides becomes loose and allows excess movement to occur between the bony surfaces of the ilium (pelvis) and the sacrum. This excess movement creates friction and inflammation and over time degenerative changes cause them to stiffen and reduce their movement.
Both excess movement and stiffness creates an incongruence in the bony surfaces and decreases the ability to absorb and distribute load effectively.
W H Y I S S I J P A I N S O C O M M O N I N Y O G A ? - The 4 Underlying Factors At Play
➡️ We All Have Lazy Butts From So Much Sitting.
When we first start practising yoga, most of us have pretty disengaged glutes. We also love crossing our legs when we sit, which causes an asymmetrical stress in the pelvic joints.
➡️ Our Thoracic Spines Are Stiff From So Much Sitting
When the thoracic spine is stiff, we tend to force more rotation into the Pelvis during twisting poses. More on the mechanics of this later.
➡️ Most Yoga Practitioners are Women and Many Women Have Babies
While men definitely also suffer with SIJ pain in yoga, women have a much higher incidence due to the relaxin hormone during pregnancy, causing a laxity in the pelvic ligaments. In the years that follow we spend a lot of time carrying our little ones around on one hip cocked out to the side, creating asymmetry in our pelvic joints.
➡️ Improper cuing from teachers particularly in twists.
The sacro-iliac joint (SIJ) sits at the bottom of the spinal column and is basically a continuation of the spine. It's an inherently stable joint and although not much movement occurs here, there is some movement and this movement allows the loads on the spine to be distributed more evenly.
If we are instructed to force the pelvis to stay neutral, pointing down towards the floor in revolved triangle and not allow the front hip to rise at all, then this does not allow for the loads on the spine through the twist to be distributed through out the entire spinal column and pelvis and can result in excess shearing forces at one segment. If there's laxity already present due to reasons mentioned above (pregnancy, child birth etc) then the excess shearing movement is likely occurring at the sacroiliac joint.
W H A T C A N I D O T O I M P R O V E T H E S T A B I L I T Y I N M Y S I J ?
Ligaments are affected by tissue CREEP, meaning they have a point of no return whereby if they are stretched beyond their threshold for stretch then they will not bounce back to their original length. Think of a rubber band. If you only stretch the rubber band a certain amount it springs back to its original length and tension. If you over stretch it repeatedly it no longer bounces back to it's original length and becomes saggy. It loses some it its original tension.
The sacral ligaments cross the SIJ and create a degree of passive stability called form closure. When the ligaments are overstretched and tissue CREEP occurs they lose some of this passive stability permanently.
But it's not all bad news - we fortunately have a secondary mechanism for stability = Muscle activation. When our muscles, namely the glutes and core engage they create a degree of active stability called force closure. The more we can increase the force closure in the SIJ through good glute & core muscle engagement on the mat, the happier our SIJ will be!
Do you want to know which poses are the biggest culprits for overly stressing the SIJ's and exactly how to create more Force Closure and stability in your pelvis in these poses?
I go through this in another video I've linked HERE:
5 PROBLEM YOGA POSES FOR YOUR SIJ - Plus How To Modify
• 5 PROBLEM YOGA POSES F...
and you'll find the description in my full blog article HERE:
cathyaganoff.com.au/is-your-y...
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Let me know how these instructions went for you in the comments below!
I'm here to support your highest movement potential on & off the mat.