How to Correct Pelvic Alignment: Part 2

Howdy Painnihilators!

In How to Correct Pelvic Alignment: Part 1, we discussed assessing how to tell if you have asymmetry in your pelvis.

Let’s review a couple of things.

Pelvic asymmetry is when the two large pelvic bones, your iliums, are not matching.  The right and left bone should be even when you are standing, sitting, and lying down. If they are uneven, this can cause back pain, pelvic pain, hip pain, knee pain to name a few things.

Pelvic asymmetry occurs at the Sacroiliac Joint seen in the picture to the right.  You may have heard about this being called a Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction, if pain is located here.

Asymmetry in the pelvis can be due to a:

• Traumatic event- A fall or car accident
• Micro-repetitive event- Sleeping on the same side with your leg bent the same way for years and years or lifting boxes from your work truck and twisting the same direction for many years
• Pregnancy- The growth of the fetus stretches the ligaments that support the pelvic bone and also affects hormone balance which ligaments are highly dependent on
• Structural component- A true leg length discrepancy is present.  Your femur or tibia bone is longer than the other side.

If a true leg length discrepancy is suspected, you can ask your physician to order an x-ray to get a specific measurement of your femur and tibia (leg bones).  Please read the whole report because if the difference is <1 cm the radiologist will state there is no difference.  But in the actual report, there could be a .5 mm, .6 mm,  .7mm difference and this could be a driver for pelvic asymmetry and can be easily corrected by placing a simple heel lift in your shorter side shoe.

And, I have to preface that your best line of defense with addressing pelvic asymmetry is visiting your local physical therapist!  We are the low back and pelvic experts!  This is our specialty and I can’t stress the importance of seeing a physical therapist to help nip this pain in the bud!

But if seeing a PT is not an option, then here are simple steps to feeling better.

In Part 1, we assessed your ankles being longer or shorter while lying on your back and then had you sit up while keeping your knees straight and assessed how the ankles looked again.

Did you see a difference?  Let’s take that information and use it!

We are going to use the example of a person having left low back pain.  She found that on her back her left ankle was shorter (or higher) than the right ankle.  And when she sat up, her left ankle became longer.

The left side went from shorter to longer in reference to her right leg.

In the medical world, this is called a  Left Posterior Roration of the Innominate.  

In the Pain and Simple World, this is called a Left Backward Pelvis.

1. Lie on your back with the left leg bent as close to your chest as possible and the right leg bent with your foot flat on the floor.
2.  Place both hands on your left thigh just above the knee.
3.  Provide a resisted force onto the thigh while pressing the thigh back into your hands.
4. Hold the resisted force for a count of 5 seconds then release and lower your left leg 2-3 inches away from your chest (towards the ground) and then resist again for 5 seconds and release and lower thigh again one more time and resist again for 5 seconds.
5. Repeat this 3 part exercise, 4 times.
6. You can repeat as needed to keep alignment even and pain reduced.

 

Now let’s fix a Left Forward Pelvis.  

Or in the medical world, commonly called a Left Anterior Rotation of the Pelvis.  

During your ankle assessment, you found the left ankle went from longer on your back to shorter in long sitting.  

1. Lie on your back with the left leg bent as far away from your chest as possible and the right leg bent with your right foot flat on the floor.
2.  Place both hands behind your thigh just above the knee.
3.  Provide a pulling force onto the back of the thigh while pressing the thigh back into your hands.
4. Hold the resisted force for a count of 5 seconds then release and bring your left leg 2-3 inches closer to your chest and then resist again for 5 seconds and release and bring thigh closer again one more time and resist for 5 seconds.
5. Repeat this 3 part exercise, 4 times.
6. You can repeat as needed to keep alignment even and pain reduced.

If you have any questions about anatomy, please check out the video I did with Sara Sauder, PT in our Video about Pelvic Pain and Correcting Pelvic Alignment here:

 

 

When I was 17 years old, I bent over to get a drink of water from a water fountain.  When I straightened up, I felt a “pop” and the pain was so severe I went home and was unable to get up for 2 days.  Xrays showed nothing and my doctor referred me to a spine specialist.  1 month later, he had no explanation for the cause.  What I know now is that I had an SI Joint Dysfunction!  If I would have known to go to a physical therapist, I would have not had to wear Depends for 2 days and suffer in misery.   I tell you this story because I want you to know that I have experienced debilitating pain.  And I will be sharing more stories to come…..Have a great week of Painnihilation!