Dooley Noted: 8/24/2014
After another long Grenada flight soon after my trek across the world, I ended up with left sacroiliac (SI) joint compression.
As I was walking, I noticed my right shoulder was hiking as I stepped forward with my left foot. I immediately felt left SI joint pain.
You can see that mechanism here:
You can see my right shoulder is hiking, and my left side sacrum is jamming into my left ilium, as the shirt wrinkles above my buttock.
My SI joint jam from sitting was exacerbated by the right shoulder hike due to basic gait rules. The trapezius hiking and upwardly rotating the shoulder gives the body a coronal (read: frontal, to the side) plane shift that’s excessively to the left.
Instead of properly compressing the hip joint on the lead leg, I extend my back and compress my SI joint.
In this second set of pictures, I drop my right shoulder a bit more, moving my torso more than my shoulder in gait. This results in proper front leg hip compression and a left SI joint that is decompressing.
Note the lack of back hyperextension and less wrinkling of my shirt above my left buttock.
Sometimes pain is a signal that the movement strategy is not correct.
You can learn to get yourself out of discomfort, especially if your pain occurs when you walk.
Get assessed.
Get corrected.
As always, it’s your call.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley