There’s a natural tendency to assume that the cause of your pain is where you feel the pain. When it comes to low back pain, sciatica, hip and pelvis pain that is often a big mistake and one reason why many treatments fail to get lasting results.
The human body is amazing in its ability to adapt to challenges. When it comes to the joints of the hips, pelvis, and low back this most often means that where you feel the pain is most often the underlying cause of the pain.
When joints in the low back, pelvis, and hips become restricted the body compensates for those restrictions by asking other nearby joints to move more to adapt to the loss of motion in the restricted joints.
Indications You Have Misalignments In Your Low Back and Pelvis
- One side of Your Pelvis is Higher: have someone assist you by having them place their hands on the top of each side of your pelvis (hips) and looking to see if one side is higher than the other. If it is, this indicates some altered motion in your SI or Sacroiliac Joints.
- March in Place Bringing Your Knee to Hip Level: Does one side feel smoother than the other? Does one side of your pelvis rise up when you lift that leg? These are additional indications of SI Joint misalignment.
- Put Your Hands on the Back of Your Pelvis: Lean backwards. Is it restricted or uncomfortable? This indicates a problem with the lower lumbar vertebra L4 and L5.
The Problem is Most Often NOT Where It Hurts!
At Life Chiropractic, when someone comes in with a complaint of low back pain, sciatica, or what they describe as hip pain my first goal is to try to determine what is causing the problem.
Here’s the process I go through:
- Determine if the pelvis is unlevel. This indicates some problem with the Sacroiliac Joints but doesn’t tell me if they are the cause or the effect.
- Test the Motion of the Sacroiliac Joints. This helps me figure out which side might be misaligned but still doesn’t tell me if the SI joints are the cause or the effect of the problem.
- Test the Motion of the Lumbar Spine. I look for misalignment and loss of motion of the lower lumbar spine. Again, a restriction here does not tell me if it is the cause or the effect.
- Test the Motion of the Hips. While I rarely find this to be the cause I do find it important to balance the hip joints.
After I have done all this my next step is to try to figure out what the cause is. I’d rather adjust the cause and leave the compensations alone. Once the cause is corrected the compensations resolve on their own.
I am looking to find out what might help bring the body back into greater balance and alignment. Even though many people come in with SI Joint pain I find that the SI Joints need to be adjusted less than 20% of the time. And, when they do need adjusting it is often only once or twice that they need it.
About 80% of the time I find that adjusting L4 or L5 corrects the unlevel pelvis and restores pain free motion to the SI joints. In addition to L4 or L5 I will often need to adjust the thoracolumbar junction at T12 or L1. I will then evaluate the hip joints and address them.
If someone is experiencing pain at the base of their spine I often find that the thoracolumbar area or pelvis needs to be adjusted. If you have ever been to a chiropractor and got immediate relief that only lasted a short time or came back worse that is often an indication that compensations were adjusted.
About Dr. Berkowitz
Dr. Bill Berkowitz is a dedicated chiropractor who brings reliability and depth to his practice at Life Chiropractic in western Nevada County. Focused on addressing chronic issues like low back pain, headaches, and anxiety, Dr. Berkowitz delivers patient-centered care rooted in proven methods without unnecessary extras.
Life Chiropractic, founded by Dr. Bill Berkowitz, offers reliable and results-driven chiropractic care for residents of western Nevada County. With a focus on foundational health solutions, the practice prioritizes quality and effectiveness to help clients achieve relief from chronic issues without unnecessary add-ons.
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