Sacroiliac Joint Fusion as a Last Resort

Sacroiliac Joint & Sacroiliac Joint Fusions, What Are Your Alternatives?

Has someone told you that you have arthritis of your SI joint and the only hope is to fuse the joint together?  Do you feel lost because this was the only option you were given for your pain? 

Every time you take a step, you engage your sacroiliac joint.  Located at the base of the spine, this joint is not as dynamic as an elbow or a hip, but the alteration of the sacroiliac joint with the slight rotation of the ilium allows you to walk without a slide or a shuffle. 

If an SI joint becomes lax and the joint is fused, other parts of the body are stressed.  And when the SI joint becomes really lax and mobile, a fusion will transfer more stress to the lumbar spine and the hips instead of redistributing it throughout the body.  As a last resort, a sacroiliac joint fusion could be appropriate, but Wellward Medical offers both conventional and regenerative ways to address SI joint issues without jumping to surgery. 

Conventional Treatments 

• A thorough physical examination we call Pain Mapping™, which helps us identify the specific ligaments and structures that are not working properly.
• Diagnostic injections in one or more of the five ligaments of the SI joint, which allow us to identify the damaged ligaments.
• Physical therapy and rehabilitation to strengthen the structures that support the damaged ligaments so that the body has to rely less on that damaged structure.

Regenerative Treatments 

After completing Pain Mapping™ and diagnostic injections, the Wellward team collaborates to coordinate the best regenerative treatments for the patient.  Regenerative medicine leverages inflammation by using the “good” parts of inflammation and leaving out the “bad” parts.  Regenerative injections target damaged ligaments and then give a sort of blueprint for the body to rebuild and strengthen.  Thanks to Pain Mapping™, we can be very discreet and specific about which structures we want to provoke, promoting healing. 

• Prolotherapy, or proliferation therapy, involves injecting a non-invasive solution such as dextrose, which irritates the ligament and triggers the body’s healing response.
• PRP (platelet-rich-plasma), a concentration of the patient’s own platelets, is injected into the damaged ligament to promote a potent healing response.
• Stem cell therapy utilizes stem cells obtained from the patient’s own body to regenerate and repair damaged tissue. 

Do you suffer from sacroiliac joint pain?  Wellward offers many non-surgical options to alleviate your pain.  Please reach out to us to ask any questions or to set up an appointment.  Phone:  859-275-4878  Fax:  859-276-5400  The Wellward team looks forward to speaking with you and helping you on your journey to healing and better health.  www.wellwardmed.com