Your comment about not wanting another slow eight weeks raises an alarm bell to me. Many athletes set inappropriate goals following injury and try to get back to full training ASAP. Often the 'softly softly' approach, with lots of short-term, incremental goals is often the best way to a full recovery.

With all injuries it takes time to get back full fitness, it is generally best to follow the slowly slowly approach as coming back to hard to soon generally leads to either reinjury or further injuries. If the S.I. problem has been fixed and your physio is happy with it, I suggest you get the soft tissue checked out and sorted, any good and competent sports masseur should be able to do this for you. Then plan your come back and use intelligence with regard to the exact amount of training you do, more is not always better, I know from bitter experience, I promise you I practice what I preach. It's not the destination but the journey (so they tell me) P.P and S.I.B are crammed with rehab information use it, try it and disrecard what do's not work for you, err on the side of caution and you will soon be training at your best again. good luck John Murphy.

Sacroiliac joint problems can be caused by biomechanical problems which need to be corrected before the joint will remain stable. As with most unlateral injuries (on one side of the body only) the first question to be asked is , and, in your case, "why the Left leg and not the right?" presumably you run with both legs?! :D

So, unless the injury has been caused by trauma, or by always running on the same camber/slope, then you are likely to have a leg length difference, and until this is corrected by a heel raise in your shoe, the SI problems will return.

A simple way to determine leg length difference is to stand on a flat surface with bare feet together and knees kept braced backwards...put about 1/2inch of telephone book pages under one foot, close eyes and see if you feel balanced...then put the pages under the other foot and see if you feel any difference in balance.

If you feel equally tipped to one side with both feet when each is raised, then your leg lengths are probably equal, or you are not good at feeling balance :) ...if one leg is shorter, then you will feel more upright when the raise is under that foot...and you can roughly estimate how much raise you need by adjusting the height of the pages.

Hope this helps...Dr Gran (NZ)

can be very aggravating and painful.. I have yet to hear of someone haveing groin pain with it though? I would go along with John and recommend getting some soft tissue work done.. a good medical massage therapist would be able to help you... do you get low back pain as well?? It sounds as if there may be some imbalances in the pelvic gurdle that are holding you back..

Hope you have a great recovery

Amanda

Hi Amanda,

The causes and treatment of groin pain are often somewhat controversial..and, as Orthopaedic Surgeon hubby 'Ole Gramps' has often found, one cause of groin pain can be found in the sacroiliac region, eiher in the joint itself, or in the supporting ligaments, and is usually due either to trauma (eg sitting down hard on ones bottom!) or to repetitive movement in the presence of a biomechanical abnormality.

Cheers Dr Gran.

well.. i would agree with you that groin injuries and pain are definitely controversial as far as causes.. and I do agree that groin pain could be part of si joint dysfunction if the pelvic gurdle were unstable or compromised in some way.. just not as common as other symptoms of si joint problems.. thanks for making me think.. always good to do!!

Amanda

Good to talk with you Amanda. I am a GP with an interest in Sports medicine, and glean most of my knowledge from Ole Gramps, but you will be seeing far more injuries than I will.

have a personal interest in the SI joint as have short R leg..or to be more positive, a long left leg...leading to probs running marathons on the road against the traffic in the past....much improved now I am rowing with a small heel raise built into my shoes. and I only run on natural surfaces now...as in orienteering....also have to keep working on core stability.

I do see alot more injuries than I care too.. people are never as careful until they see what kind of set backs and injury can cause.. life tends to make people so rushed..

I am glad that you take an interest in sports medicine.. it is becoming so much more popular and demanding now with more and more people trying to become healthier.. and I think they are happier all the way around when they do!!! keep up the good work.. and let me know if I can help at all!!

Amanda

Like so many I have been experiencing groin pain which, stupidly, I thought was to do with my groin. It turns out that I have facet joint/SI problems and have been given exercises to do at home, plus having treatment with the physio. Any idea how long this will take to correct itself and what can I do to stop it happening again - more core exercise? Also, what can I do to strengthen my glutes?

Any advice gratefully received.

Anna

P.S. Trainee yoga teacher desperate to get back to class!

There was quite good article on latest issue about SIJs

Beyond rehab: pelvic assessment by Chris Mallac

Chris told some good stuff yet I don't agree all his thoughts. But then again, who would ask me anything...

But funny: On same issue there is text about groin strain, but no mention at all that ilium upslip or rotated innominate is the main cause of groin strains too.