si joint pain!

[becky f]

hi, I had back surgery four years ago for spinal stenosis, ayear ago pain started in left lower back and buttock. got to the point where I can not stand or walk for more than ten minutes without severe pain! I have had four injections ,the one in my si joint worked for five days it was great! then all pain returned! they are now saying the sifusion is the only option left. I am living from one pain pill to the next,which is causing me to be depressed, I went to see the only surgeon in my state who is trained to perform this surgery. the only thing that I am nervous about is he told me this will be the first one hes performed since being trained! Guess I will pray it goes well! he is a highly trained neuro surgeon so that is good! can anyone tell me how bad the recovery is going to be? so glad I found this site, no one seems to understand what the pain is like but people going thru it!

[Santorini]

Hi Becky,
What all have you done to treat your SI pain? Have you tried prolotherapy? I know some that have had great success with it and others where it did absolutely nothing other than drain their wallet. Sorry about the new problem. I experienced the same after an L5/S1 fusion then hardware removal. My ligaments were so badly damaged that I lost pelvic stability. Will your surgeon be using ifuse implants? If you want to know more about recovery from this surgery feel free to contact me.

[becky f]

thanks for replying! I have had pt for eight weeks, mri which did not show this problem. my orthopedic surgeon sent me to pain clinic, there the Dr. gave me four different injections including a sacroiliac joint block which stopped the pain for one week!! it was great,then all pain returned. now the pain is so bad I can not stand or walk for more than ten minutes , I am living from one pain pill to the next which has made me very depressed! I have seen a neuro surgeon who is the only one who performs the sijoint fusion in my state. I am nervous because he was honest and told me I would be the first pt. he has performed one on since his training! I guess I will trust him and pray for the best since this is taking over my life with the pain! I am so happy I found this site where other people understand what the pain is like!

[Justin]

Hi Becky,

Welcome to the Spine Patient Society.

I'm sorry that you are now dealing with SI issues. In regard to you being the FIRST surgery that your surgeon has performed: just know that you are in his/her learning curve. Inevitably when a surgeon learns a new procedure, it takes to fine tune that procedure and the main way to become proficient is to increase the number of procedures. I know you have your surgery scheduled, but, if possible, it would behoove you to have another surgical opinion (possibly with a surgeon that has more cases under their belt). I'm not saying that your neurosurgeon is not qualified; I'm sure his/her qualifications are outstanding to even be doing neurosurgery. I'm just saying with all things in life, especially with ones own body, a few extra opinions about a life-changing event might be a good thing.

We have had many Spine Patients here at SPS that have had SI joint fusion. Here's a link to some of the threads in the Surgical Outcomes Forum about Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction and Fusion: click here.

Good luck and please keep us posted.