SI Joint Support & Isometric Exercises

Sometimes, if you experience pain in your low back/ bottom area, it might be coming from your SI joint being out of place. This is the area at the bottom of your spine that connect to your pelvis. It is where you sacrum (the upside triangular bone at the end of your spine) attaches to ilium, or your pelvic bones, hence the term SI joint or sacroiliac joint. During pregnancy and postpartum or at different stages in your menstrual cycle and other hormonal shifts, it’s easy for your SI joint to be slightly out of place putting extra strain on near by muscles, possibly irritating the nerves. You can use something called an SI belt to help bring more stability. You can also try a couple of simple isometric exercises to help. An isometric exercise means you are contracting your muscle but you are creating any movement, like pushing against a wall. You are using your muscles to push against the wall, but you can see no motion happening. Using these isometric contractions with muscles around your SI joint, you can essentially use the muscles to pull the joint back into place, thus relieving some pain. Sometimes this is enough, but sometimes you need to revisit these isometric contractions a few times. If you are still experiencing pain, even after trying these exercises or only find pain relief when using an SI belt, it would be wise to consult a physical therapist to help you find out what else might be going on. We will start with a quick video of how to use an SI belt and then show 2 options for isometric exercises. There are pictures and explanations in the PDF as well.