Joint Restrictions

I had an interesting thing happen today. I woke up with a right sacroiliac joint restriction which was causing severe pain after every step I took. My suspicion is that the huge amount of sitting I did yesterday altered how my sacrum glided between my ilium bones. It felt like the bone was caught and each time I went to bend forward (put on socks, pick up my shoes etc.) my muscles would spasm, forcing me to protect the area with a distinct limp. My entire biomechanics changed, something many people have experienced shoveling snow, moving a box etc.

From my experience at DC school, I knew the area involved was the SI joint and I also knew if I forced that area to move through an adjustment or exercise it would likely loosen up and begin moving again, stopping the painful cycle. Not all issues with the SI joint are this simple but fortunately, mine was. I took the gamble of making it worse by going on a jog. My hope was it would begin moving again and decrease my symptoms. During the mechanics of running, the pelvis moves rhythmically with the legs as well as the spine via the sacrum. Sitting all day yesterday most likely shortened some muscles and ligaments and lengthened some others to a point where the right SI joint became wedged incorrectly ever-so-slightly. When I got up today the joint was "stuck" and not gliding, therefore the surrounding soft tissues were pushed and pulled in abnormal ways, absorbing energy from vectors unnatural to them. This led me to protect the area with a noticeable limp or antalgic gait.

During the run I started with a slight limp but slowly found a nice rhythm. My pain slowly subsided and on the way home my pain stopped. Essentially, my SI joint was not moving correctly or at all. From that perspective, I think many of the restrictions chiropractors fix with their adjustments basically mimic the effects of exercise. Being that many people don't exercise, these restrictions could develop fully into arthritis or some kind of bone spur, causing severe neurological deficits. As I continue into this curriculum, I notice more and more applicability and usefulness of chiropractic. It can be used for the overworked athlete and the sedentary couch surfer to avoid the consequences of chronic joint restrictions.

It's exciting to continue forward in this curriculum.