Hello,
I’ve been trying to rehab my si joint for the last 5 months, ran out of resources, hoping you guys can help me.
So, I am a 35 y.o guy, weighing around 205 lbs, lifting for slightly less than 2 years. My lifts are 270 x 3 bench, 330x5 squat, 425x3 deadlift, 200 ohp and 225 x 8 bent over rows.
I had to take a 3 month break prior to all this because of a minor, deep vein thrombosis on my left leg((increased coagulation due to genetics). First week back to the gym, I tried to row 160lbs and heard a pop around my left side, went back home, iced it and rested, next day I was in 7/10 pain, was unable to bend forward, not even 10 degrees. I did get an MRI next day, it showed nothing on my si joint and discs, except the same minor herniations on L4-L5 and L5-S1 that showed on my MRI 2 years ago(They did not get worse, and the doctor dismissed those as “everyone got those, there’s no nerve root compression”)
I took 6 weeks off, at this point, I can bend a lot more, like 60 degrees more, but the same spot still hurts when I do. So I went ahead and seen a physical therapist(a doctor), she asked me to get an SI joint(sacrum?) MRI, and again nothing on my si joint, so she tells me that my lower back and si joint are ok, it’s probably the muscles around it that are tight, so I should rest more, do kinesiotapes , keep icing it etc.
I dropped the bent over movements and lower body training(I couldn’t even do leg press because straightening my leg would hurt), started doing upper body, at this point I have this 4/10 dull ache on my left si joint that won’t go away. A few weeks later, while doing some overhead presses, it pops again, but it wasn’t nearly as bad this time but still painful.
I took a week off, noticed I was randomly having sciatica(very light) and went to the chiro this time, the guy checks the mri and compares my leg lengths etc, tells me my right leg is tiny bit shorter but nothing to worry about, we do 4 adjustments but the pain is still there. So the chiro sessions were basically a fail BUT the guy told me to train slowly and carefully through pain , do oblique exercises and train legs/glutes.
I squat low bar and squats were actually completely pain free, side bends were slightly annoying but nothing too painful. I also discovered that I usually sleep on my left side, stopping that and doing lower body & oblique work were extremely helpful. I started doing McGill’s big 3, doing banded adductor and abductor work, pushing and pulling opposite legs(the si joint rehab exercise), along with suitcase carries, hip thrusts, hyperextensions(with glute and hamstring emphasis) and finally got to point that dull pain is down to 1/10.
I also stretched my groin, hamstrings, tfl, IT band and QL during this period.
4 months after the injury I tried to row 135lbs, I had the same feeling right before it popped the first time, it was like my si joint was pulling to left , getting tense. I stopped after 1 set, that day I had my si joint inflamed again, back to a 4/10 pain but it went away after a few days.
Next month I attempted a 95lbs bent over row, still the pulling to the left feeling and it got inflamed again.
Last month the pain was like the following:
%60 1-2/10 dull pain around the left si joint
%10 minor hip inflammation & pain.
%10 sciatica (not aggravated by any movement)
%10 1/10 dull pain on the right
%10 no pain.
Since those are all different painful areas, I am suspecting my SI joint is unstable, because every now and then when I squeeze a yoga block with my legs, I would get a clicking sound, this used to happen a lot more often, now it’s just once a week, so maybe it is becoming more stable?
I also would get some pain on the si joint and the left side of the sacrum when I put my leg to the wall and straighten my left leg while sitting, but this is not always happening.
So I have seen a doctor and a chiro, did a lot of research , found the contributing tight spots and released them, did balancing work with suitcase carries etc but still can’t row 95lbs without having the si joint tightness/pulling and inflammation. I would love to be able to deadlift again but I don’t know what else I to do.
Any help is greatly appreciated,
Thanks.
J.