Emerald Coast Pain Services


Pelvic and Sacroiliac Structure


Sacroiliac Joint pain is significantly more common in women than men. The pain is located in the "dimple" region around the buttock. The area is extremely tender to the touch and it can radiate out to the leg in some cases. The problem often has been blamed upon a laxity of the joint or a hypermobile joint. We have found that the pain is usually from a tendosynovitis of the joint and this explains why the joint is so tender. Thus the pain is actually from the ligaments and tendons that adhere to the joint area and these become damaged. The hardest problem is to convince people that the pain is from the ligaments of the SI joint and not the joint itself. Most patients are told that the joint is slipping or overly mobile and this is why they need to have the joint fused. To fuse the joint is a major operation and involves a six inch incision. We believe that the problem is the highly innervated tissues that surround the joint and not actually the joint itself. This is totally different than the vast majority of doctors who believe that the pain is from abnormal joint mobility. Unfortunately, 50% of patients still have pain even after the joint is fused! If the pain was from a mobile joint, then the problem should have been solved once the joint cannot move but the problem often remains and patients are told that the joint is probably still mobile. Our physicians developed the first minimally invasive technique to cure the problem. This cure involves an incision of less than one inch and resolves the pain entirely in 60% of the people.