Post IMS on my left hip (pretty intense) and then some all-outs at the track I’ve been battling nagging SI joint pain. Something that has been a part of my existence since a major car crash back when I was 19 or 20! So did every exercise in the book with not much improvement. Also I would wake up to the SI burning.
In researching what’s going on with my pelvis I stumbled on a Trochanter belt. A pelvis support belt made perfect sense because I was kinda of doing that already with some lifts. I ordered one off Amazon and I used my FINIS waist belt in the meantime + and EVA foam pad at the back.
The results over the past 5 days have been pretty cool.
- By stabilizing the pelvis, the belt forces left-right muscle symmetry (eg left leg/hip vs right leg /hip)
- Worn at night, prevents the traumatized muscles from distorting the pelvis @ the SI joint. Instead the muscles are told to get lost.
- Worn on the bike or walking - see #1
The body is supposed to work symmetrically and luckily our sport is ~ symmetrical. But you can introduce asymmetry by:
-breathing one side only swimming
-leg length issues running (or say an injury)
-sitting off to one side, or shoe placement,etc on the bike
The sports I did are asymmetrical - slalom waterskiing attacks your hips and pelvis, locked & pre-twisted. And hockey you hold a stick and shoot one way, so that’s not ideal either (a bit like golf).
Anyway great news the SI joint settled right down and it took my IMS’d hip region to new levels of function. The first night I wore the belt was hilarious. My left side muscles were just howling and I woke to a wicked left leg calf cramp! But my SI joint was at peace. Right then I knew it had potential.
I searched the site and could not find a thread which surprised me.