Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction Specialist

Your sacroiliac joints connect your spine to your pelvis. They are complex joints designed for strength but minimal motion.  Patients with sacroiliac joint dysfunction feel increased pain in their low back or side of the back when rising from a sitting position or stepping up stairs with one leg.  This pain can even radiate into their buttocks or partially down their leg.  They can note that their stride is shorter on one side and they can put a finger on the location of their pain which is just off to the side of their low back. Causes of SI joint pain can range from trauma, childbirth, age-related degeneration or post-surgical pain. Diagnostic injections into these joints can offer marked pain relief as well as a diagnostic opportunity to visualize the joint itself. Once it is determined that the SI joint is the pain generator further treatments can then be planned. For some patients, occasional therapeutic injections combined with physical therapy offer them relief. For others radiofrequency ablation is utilized to target the nerves that innervate the SI joint for longer term relief. This treatment targets the nerves that carry pain signals to the brain and stop them from transmitting this information. If SI joint instability is noted on visualization of the joint then a minimally invasive surgical procedure can be done to stabilize and fuse this joint over time. The stabilization of the joint offers profound and fairly immediate pain relief from an unstable SI joint. This procedure is minimally invasive; done as an outpatient procedure with very little downtime. Both Dr. Classen and Dr. Bailey-Classen have been trained in multiple techniques to alleviate pain related to SI joint dysfunction.