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1748503 tn?1311730179

SI joint dysfunction and Sex?

I have SI joint dysfunction, as well as chronic non cancer pain, yet to be diagnosed. I am tapering my pain meds and have noticed a marked increase in pain in my pelvis and hips, especially after sex. I've been doing exercises for about a year to strengthen the muscles in this region, since I've cut back my meds it even hurts to do these exercises. What should I do? I doubt my husband would be happy if I abstained, and I don't want to increase my dosage, again. I've cut my dosage in half over the last month. Help.
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Avatar universal
I am sorry to hear of your situation as a couple’s sex life can have a large impact on one’s mental and physical health. Seeing as no physical can be performed, I am assuming that your diagnosis of SI joint dysfunction was not made by yourself but by a health professional. It is also assumed that it is bilateral since it wasn’t mentioned. You mention chronic non cancer pain and I would ask how long you have had the pain, what type of pain is it, what makes it better, what makes it worse. Also, what medications are you on, who is lowering your dose and what is the reasoning for lowering your dose at this time? What doctors have you seen, what were their findings and what conclusions did they make. Also, you mentioned exercises that you completed to strengthen muscles of the pelvis. What exercises did you complete, how did you feel during and after the completion of the exercises? How do they make you feel better and for how long? Do they completely take your symptoms away? Does your pain in the SI’s correlate with your menstrual cycle due to hormonal imbalances? How does it correlate with ovulation? How is the pain before, during and after menses? These are just some things to consider that you may not have previously thought of that could be impacting your condition.

Depending on severity and length of the activity, sexual intercourse can be considered either micro trauma or macro trauma. Micro trauma could be seen when physical sessions are mild to moderate in severity and can accumulate and build up to cause a chronic situation. Macro trauma can occur when short term but high intensity sessions occur and cause a singular bout of injury that is more acute in nature. If many macro traumas occur it could be devastating to the underlying structures and cause pain and instability. Basically the type, length and duration of sexual intercourse could be causing the problem or exacerbating it. Positioning could be another implication which could help to give you relief. For the time being, my advice would be to take these encounters slowly and be careful about being in any one position for too much time. This includes but is not limited to positions where the legs are outstretched too far to your sides (ex. Missionary) or if you are bent over at the waist for long periods of time (ex. Doggie style). Both of these mentioned positions place stress on the SI joints at the extreme of their movement capabilities and can impact the course of treatment. Also, when you discuss this with your significant other let them aware of the situation and they will probably be more than willing to try different styles, paces, techniques in order to make the experience better for the both of you. Most significant others do not take pleasure in bringing pain to their loved ones and will be willing to work with you. Last piece of advice, don’t be afraid to take control of the session and communicate with your partner what works better for you. Communication is key to any relationship.

I also agree with Dr. Adam Tanase about seeing a chiropractor who specializes in these techniques as they could be beneficial.  
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514494 tn?1376511148
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
See if you can find a chiropractor who specializes is "Logan Basic" or "SOT" in your area. If that doesn't pan out, try a "Gonstead" practitioner. Each of these doctors has a lot of experience working with pelvic/SI joint pain.
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