Chiropractic Best Option for Sacroiliac Joint Pain
Dysfunction in the sacroiliac joint (SIJ), located in the pelvis, is thought to be a possible cause of sciatica, resulting in back pain that radiates down the leg and below the knee.
Scientists have questioned what the best treatment option is for patients with SIJ-related leg pain. In a recent study, researchers compared three treatment options: physical therapy, chiropractic manual therapy, and intra-articular injections of corticosteroids. Patients included 51 adults with leg pain associated with the sacroiliac joint. Researchers analyzed the effectiveness of each method after 6 weeks of selected treatments, and again after 12 weeks. The results for each patient was categorized as either a success or failure, based on relief or worsening of symptoms and average pain scores.
The study's findings revealed that manual therapy is the superior choice for treating leg pain associated with the SIJ. The success rate for chiropractic manual therapy was 72%, compared to just 20% for physiotherapy and 50% for corticosteroid injections. Researchers also found that neither physical therapy nor injections resulted in significant pain relief, whereas manual therapy resulted in a significant improvement on pain scores.
Due to the success rate and pain reduction of manual therapy, the study authors concluded that chiropractic should be the first treatment of choice in patients with SIJ-related leg pain. They hoped that their findings would be confirmed by further research with a larger sample size.
Additional research has highlighted the efficacy of chiropractic for sciatica, even after surgery has failed.
Reference
Visser L, Woudenberg N, et al. Treatment of the sacroiliac joint in patients with leg pain: a randomized-controlled trial. European Spine Journal 2013 [online]. doi: 10.1007/s00586-013-2833-2.
