Pelvic Pain

Pain in the pelvis or pelvic pain is considered pain below the navel. There are once again many possible causes which needs to be considered and ruled out. If a chiropractor finds anything that is not musculoskeletal in nature he would refer.

The pelvis is made up of three parts. The sacrum forms the posterior aspect while the Ilia are attached on both sides via the sacroiliac joint. It’s between these 3 bones and the sacroiliac joints that a twisted pelvis occurs. The pelvis is often misconstrued for being the hips but the hip joints are actually sit within the pelvis. The spaces between bones of the sacroiliac joint is made of cartilage which can become distorted and inflamed along with the ligaments of the pelvis. This can often be a source of pain.

The chiropractor will usually use three steps to analyse the pelvis for pelvic pain or misalignment.  He would palpate and feel these areas for inflammation and movement and conduct orthopaedic tests to test the integrity of the sacroiliac joints.  He may use x-rays to see the alignment and use visual clues that show the probability of a pelvis misalignment. Some indicators are foot flair, straight back posture, a buttock that appears long and flat by comparison to the other buttock, etc.

A twisted pelvis will also distort the spine and many misalignments and altered spinal movement originate in the pelvis. We call it the foundation principle. If a distortion occurs here the compensating distortion higher up the spine is usually more pronounced. Often when we correct the pelvis alignment other symptoms higher up the spine resolve.

Pain across the top of the pelvis and into the low back is very common. Often this is referred pain from the low back which tends to refer over one side of the low back and sometimes even into the pelvis.