Give the pelvic floor pt time to work. Don’t chase symptoms.

I was struggling with glute pain. Nothing was working.
I picked up an electric massager charging at my gym and used it. I felt weird using the electric massager on my glute in front of people but whatever. The electric massager is heavy and hard for me to hold in my hand. I used it on both glutes as long as my hand could hold it and handle the vibration.

No pain since. Amazing.

What type of physical therapy are you doing? Which specific exercises?

I have had some similar issues. Traditional PT exercises (clam shells, hip raises, side walking with the band, etc.) tried with several providers did not help and sometimes made the pain worse, particularly in my SI joint.

What has helped was less of those exercises more manual PT with massage and some dry needling and cupping. And very subtle supervised PT exercises, like very small movements that feel like they're doing nothing but are working on specific areas.

The physical therapist that was recommended to me by other PTs after their methods didn't work was Tamar Issa. I haven't gone in a while but I'm still on his newsletter and saw he has a book about back pain that you might want to read or try an appointment.

The other thing that has helped is core strengthening. Pilates, especially with a reformer, is excellent for that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you hyper mobile?

No, not that I'm aware of.

I've wondered, though, if there's some kind of autoimmune situation going on like psoriatic arthritis. But, then I figure that'd have shown up on the MRIs. I don't have psoriasis, but know you can sometimes get PA before or independent of the skin issues.

PA is a type of spondyloarthritis, which is what I thought of when I heard your symptoms. Would recommend going to a good rheumatologist--one who does hands on and not just run a bunch of blood tests. By the way, the blood test for ankylosing spondylitis (typically the most severe form of spondyloarthritis), is just a test for a genetic marker associated with AS and a negative result definitely does not rule out spondyloarthritis.

As for the MRIs you have had, they would not pick this up. The MRI for spondyloarthritis is specifically for the sacroiliac joints using STIR imagery.

Thank you! Two of my 3 sons have Crohn's and there's no family history, so I'm kind of hyper aware that this may be an autoimmune issue. i

There is a type of spondyloarthritis associated with Crohn's and IBD: enteropathic spondyloarthritis.

I have wondered if there is some sort of inherited tendency towards these diseases. My two nieces have Crohn's (one with associated arthritis) and DD has axial spondyloarthritis.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you hyper mobile?

No, not that I'm aware of.

I've wondered, though, if there's some kind of autoimmune situation going on like psoriatic arthritis. But, then I figure that'd have shown up on the MRIs. I don't have psoriasis, but know you can sometimes get PA before or independent of the skin issues.

PA is a type of spondyloarthritis, which is what I thought of when I heard your symptoms. Would recommend going to a good rheumatologist--one who does hands on and not just run a bunch of blood tests. By the way, the blood test for ankylosing spondylitis (typically the most severe form of spondyloarthritis), is just a test for a genetic marker associated with AS and a negative result definitely does not rule out spondyloarthritis.

As for the MRIs you have had, they would not pick this up. The MRI for spondyloarthritis is specifically for the sacroiliac joints using STIR imagery.

Thank you! Two of my 3 sons have Crohn's and there's no family history, so I'm kind of hyper aware that this may be an autoimmune issue. i

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you hyper mobile?

No, not that I'm aware of.

I've wondered, though, if there's some kind of autoimmune situation going on like psoriatic arthritis. But, then I figure that'd have shown up on the MRIs. I don't have psoriasis, but know you can sometimes get PA before or independent of the skin issues.

PA is a type of spondyloarthritis, which is what I thought of when I heard your symptoms. Would recommend going to a good rheumatologist--one who does hands on and not just run a bunch of blood tests. By the way, the blood test for ankylosing spondylitis (typically the most severe form of spondyloarthritis), is just a test for a genetic marker associated with AS and a negative result definitely does not rule out spondyloarthritis.

As for the MRIs you have had, they would not pick this up. The MRI for spondyloarthritis is specifically for the sacroiliac joints using STIR imagery.

Anonymous wrote:Are you hyper mobile?

No, not that I'm aware of.

I've wondered, though, if there's some kind of autoimmune situation going on like psoriatic arthritis. But, then I figure that'd have shown up on the MRIs. I don't have psoriasis, but know you can sometimes get PA before or independent of the skin issues.

Anonymous wrote:Long ago I had similar hip pain related to running that was hard to pin down. I did much less diagnostics than you have done: hip MRI showed a small labrum tear, had the surgery, issue resolved. Maybe revisit whether your issue could be the tear? My best wishes to you, that sounds very challenging.

Back in July, the dr. seemed to think that because the diagnostic injection into the hip joint didn't help that it wasn't the labral tear. But, When I went to the pelvic floor PT, she said that sometimes labral tears can make the pelvic floor muscles react, so maybe fixing the labral tear would help the pelvic floor. I'm definitely open to asking about it; thank you!

Are you hyper mobile?

Anonymous wrote:Dry needling. It’s a GameChanger.

I've heard this and need to find a place that does it. I'm also pursuing acupuncture. Thanks!

Anonymous wrote:I like the Sarno back pain books.

I will check them out; thank you!

Anonymous wrote:I'm going through the same thing, but I have a 10 year history of moderate lumbar spinal stenosis, facet arthropathy, sciatica, bulging discs. This time though it's presented as hip pain, it band, and now sciatica. I had much success with epidurals a few sessions over the years, but this time have done two shots in the bursa, pt for 6 weeks, two sessions of dry needling and it's only getting worse. No relief at all and not getting much sleep. Going for new MRI next week as it's been three years since my last one. My mother had pretty bad spinal stenosis too and after many years of other treatments, finally had the surgery at 72. It worked well, but unfortunately, she died of cancer six months later.
I'm 59 but very active (walk dogs every morning for 1.5 miles), have gym in house, and play tennis twice a week.

I'm so sorry to hear you're not getting relief! It's terrible not to be able to do the things you love and live without being in pain. I'm definitely open to surgery if the other options don't work.

I'm the 10:12 poster. I would also agree with rest. De-stress. Changing up your patterns.

I like the Sarno back pain books.

Anonymous wrote:I have been struggling with lower back pain and hip pain for a year now. Have done PT with some success, but pain continues to flare up. I wanted to share that a few weeks ago during a flare I got Covid, which knocked me on my a** for a good three days. During those days, I stayed in bed under the covers and slept. Hardly got up, although I did make sure to do some pt stretches every day. Beyond that, I don’t even remember the last time I spent so much time sleeping/resting. Maybe middle school lol. Well, when I finally recovered, my back and hip pain were gone. It has since come back, but not as intensely. Which is to say, maybe serious rest can help an acute flare up, even though no doctor or pt therapist ever suggested it to me. Food for thought…
Best wishes - it is hard to deal with this kind of pain.

Thank you! If anything, I feel like the PT has been pushing me to do more, rather than less. It's all so confusing because for so many back and hip issues, walking is supposed to be helpful. I will definitely keep this idea in mind; I don't have anything to lose at this point.

I hope your pain stays less intense, or better yet, goes away altogether!