SI Joint Dysfunction and Skiing

[hollyberry]

Have been having a ton of lower back pain recently, went to a PT and found out, surprise surprise, that my SI joint is misaligned and acting up again. Currently doing a bunch of PT-assigned stretches to mitigate the discomfort. Does anyone else occasionally suffer from this problem, and do you find that skiing irritates it?

I asked my PT if skiing would be a bad idea with the back issue and she told me she had no idea because she doesn’t ski. She did say to avoid running and jumping for a while because of the high-impact. Ski season is a LOOONG way off, but still...

 

[bbinder]

Oh yeah - I have a variety of back problems that go back a few decades... When my SI joints are acting up, I will experience discomfort but not pain. A trip to my chiropractor will straighten that out, so to speak. More substantial pain will have me resorting to pain meds, ice, stretches, etc. I keep skiing unless activity makes me hurt more in the moment. I don't think that skiing will make my issues worse, but it is just no fun to ski while in pain.

 

[cantunamunch]

Can't speak to your SI joint, but ...did the pain fire up when you were skating?

I ask because tight hamstrings will cause massive lower back pain - the curse of the int/int-adv weekend skate warrior.

 

[SBrown]

I used to have lots of SI issues, not as many anymore since I don't play as much tennis, but one thing I remember is physio telling me to be careful with any exercises where you load with one leg forward, like lunges and split squats. I didn't really suffer many SI issues from skiing, it was definitely more of a tennis thing, where you end up in awkward positions, legs this way and that. With skiing, you (hopefully!) are a little more centered.

 

[cantunamunch]

With skiing, you (hopefully!) are a little more centered.

She also does XC, really can't avoid split loading there.

 

[SBrown]

She also does XC, really can't avoid split loading there.

Oh, yes you are right about that.

 

[SugarCube]

I've had lots of SI joint issues for about 10-12 years now. No one can diagnose an actual problem, making its treatment challenging. The pain was never really in my back, always in my lower hip/buttock region. I've had x-rays and MRI, and no one can find anything wrong. Grr. Happily, skiing never aggravated it. The push/pull motion (think: vacuuming, mopping) really lights it up but skiing, no. BTW, my Neato is my new best friend!

 

[Monster]

Sitting a lot is bad. These two are good:

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