SI Joint Pain

Pain & Rehab Forum [Moderated]
1

Hello BBM,

I am a novice lifter (24M). I have had mild low back pain on my right side for several years. I was ready to work through what I assumed was just nonspecific low back pain as I became stronger.

Unfortunately several months into my training as my squat/DL lifts got a bit heavier, I began to experience what I believe is (and what my doctor referred to as) SI joint pain on my right side. I thought if I could just continue lifting and maybe try some different variations of these exercises I could work through it, however now squatting and deadlifting only 150 lbs, the pain and muscle weakness on my right side becomes severe enough that I can’t finish more than 2 sets even with a backoff of 10-20 lbs. For the rest of the day after doing these lifts, walking and even sitting is uncomfortable and painful.

This has been very frustrating, as I just want to be able to squat and DL or do a variation thereof without too much pain. I’m not sure I even need a diagnosis at this point, I just want to lift. My doctor recommended PT, I’m starting that soon but I’m not sure how much that will actually help. I’m tired of people/healthcare professionals telling me I need to stretch more, that my hamstrings are too tight, or that heavy DLs are dangerous but I’m also not sure how to proceed from here.

What do?

2

Have you read this yet?

It sounds like you are still attempting to lift loads that exceed your current tolerance / capacity, rather than finding a tolerable entry point into the rehab process as outlined in this article.

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3

I have read it, but I suppose my belief that this was a temporary situation that would resolve itself plus my desire to make gainzzz convinced me that I would not need to follow the entire pain rehab procedure from the beginning.

I will start by decreasing the weight on the bar and go from there, thank you doctor.

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