Is Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction A Disability Uk

Adipose Tissue Graft Instead Of Hip Replacement

After 3 Orthopedic surgeons told me I needed a total hip replacement, I tried prolotherapy and PRP up here in Seattle. The pain continued and had gotten severe enough that I was making plans for surgery. Then a friend told us about adipose tissue grafts, and we saw Dr. Peterson and I had my first treatment October 2013. Within 5-weeks I was having a lot less pain, and I was able to use my hip in ways I had not been able to for 5 years. Now, 8 months later I can say Im 80-85% back to full function and use of my hip and no pain, and Im still seeing gradual improvement. I tell everyone with a bad knee or hip or back about my results and those that have seen Dr. Peterson have all had great results.

Starting A Disability Claim For Si Joint Dysfunction

If you think you are eligible for Social Security disability insurance ), you can file your entire claim online on Social Security’s website. If you’re not comfortable filling out forms online, you can call Social Security at 800-772-1213 to get your claim started.

If you don’t have enough work credits and you have low income, you can apply for SSI . Most individuals filing for SSI cannot file the whole application online, but they can get started on Social Security’s website. For more information, see our article on how to apply for Social Security disability benefits.

What Is The Treatment For Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction

You may be wondering, can sacroiliac joint pain be cured? Treatment for SI joint dysfunction is non-operative with very few exceptions. The most important thing to do is stop the activity causing your pain. If the pain is coming from pregnancy or recent childbirth, give your body the necessary rest it needs to recover.

Rest for a few days to give your SI joint a break. If you rest longer than that, it could cause stiffness in the joint. If your pain persists, your physician will most likely recommend the following methods to reduce your pain and allow you to walk normally again.

• Ice or heat application to the injured area
• Over the counter pain medication
• Physical adjustments by a chiropractor
• Brace for the lower back
• Steroid injections

Learn more about treatment options for neck and back pain at OrthoIndy.

Recommended Reading: How Much Does Disability Pay In California

Ssd Medical Qualifications For Back Pain

The SSA uses their own medical guide to evaluate disability benefits applications that they receive. This guide, known as the Blue Book, helps to determine whether or not an individual meets the criteria to be considered disabled and eligible for SSDI. There is no listing for back pain, but there are listings that apply to specific conditions that do cause back pain. There are several qualifying conditions that may cause debilitating back pain that can be found in the Blue Book.

As an example, degenerative disc disease does not have a specific listing, you have to have severe symptoms such as requiring assistance to walk, needing to adjust your position more than every two hours and suffer from nerve-specific problems. It may result in additional problems that may be found under a listing in the Blue Book.

Rheumatoid arthritis, however, does have a listing in the Blue Book that refers to ankylosing spondylitis, which involves a fixation of the spine of at least 45 degrees or if you ankylosing spondylitis or another form of spondyloarthropathy with a fixation of the spine of at least 30 degrees as well as moderate involvement of two or more bodily systems.

Many back pain problems can be classified under Section 1.04, which deals with spine disorders. If you can prove that your particular back pain meets the equivalent for spinal disorders, you would meet the requirements set forth in the medical guide.

This particular listing includes:

What Is Sacroiliac Joint Pain

The sacroiliac joint connects the lower back to the pelvis and is created by the ilium and the sacrum . There are two sacroiliac joints one on the left and one on the right side. Sacroiliac joint pain effects both men and women of all ages but is most common in active females aged 20-40. It is also common in sports people, and pregnant women.

The sacroiliac joint is also susceptible to inflammatory conditions such as Ankylosing Spondylitis . When the sacroiliac joint becomes inflamed it is known as sacroiliitis.

Also Check: How To Calculate Disability Retirement Pay

Symptoms Of Ankylosing Spondylitis

The symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis vary greatly from person to person, but they usually take a long time to develop. In some cases, symptoms can take three months to develop fully, although they can take several years.

The symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis usually start during early adulthood or in the later teenage years. The symptoms may come and go, and get better or worse over many years.

The main symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis are:

• back pain and stiffness
• inflammation of the joints
• painful inflammation where tendons or ligaments attach to bone
• fatigue

If you have ankylosing spondylitis, you may not develop all of the symptoms listed above. The symptoms are explained in more detail below.

Back pain and stiffness

Back pain and stiffness are usually the main symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis. If you have ankylosing spondylitis you may find that:

• your pain gets better with exercise but not with rest
• your back is particularly stiff in the morning, lasting for more than 30 minutes after you start to move around
• you wake up in the second half of the night with pain and stiffness
• you have pain in your buttocks, which can sometimes be on one side and sometimes on the other

Arthritis

As well as causing symptoms in your back and spine, ankylosing spondylitis can cause arthritis in your hip, knee and other joints. The main symptoms associated with arthritis are:

• pain on moving the joint
• tenderness when the joint is examined
• swelling
• warmth in the affected area

Enthesitis

Diagnosing Si Joint Problems

SI joint problems can be difficult to diagnose. The joints are located deep in your body, making it difficult for your doctor to examine or test their motion. Often, damage to the joints doesnt show up on imaging tests such as X-rays, MRIs, or CT scans. And the symptoms are very similar to conditions like sciatica, bulging disks, and arthritis of the hip.

Your doctor may take the following steps in order to diagnose SI joint problems:

• An examination during which they ask you to move and stretch in specific ways. This can help them pinpoint the source of your pain.
• Injecting a numbing drug, such as lidocaine, into the SI joint. If the pain goes away after a short period of time, this indicates that you most likely have an SI joint problem.
• Imaging tests, such as X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans.

Also Check: How To Increase Your Va Disability Rating

Reliability Of Palpation Sij Tests Aimed At Identifying Dysfunction

A large number of clinical tests have been proposed to assess movement or asymmetry of the SIJ. These tests have been examined for intra- and inter-examiner reliability in studies of varying quality. In general, inter-examiner reliability of individual tests is poor,â, but some tests have shown adequate reliability,. There is also evidence that greater experience in using these tests results in poorer inter-examiner reliability compared to the reliability of novices,.

A number of studies have addressed the problem of poor reliability of individual palpation SIJ tests by assessing groups or clusters of tests with some successâ. While this may provide some encouragement to those accustomed to using these tests, it is hard to see how this can be of real value. Clustering individually unreliable tests may improve reliability but still lacks face validity.

Diagnostic Accuracy Of Palpation Sij Tests Aimed At Identifying Dysfunction

Diagnostic accuracy is determined by comparing the results of a test with the results of a reference standard deemed to be superior in making the diagnosis. Sensitivity and specificity are the key statistical measures used to estimate diagnostic accuracy and to calculate the likelihood ratios of a positive or negative test. Sensitivity is the proportion of patients with the disease in question who have positive tests. Specificity is the proportion of patients without the disease in question who have negative tests. In musculoskeletal medicine, individual tests generally have either high sensitivity or high specificity, but not both.

A test with high sensitivity and low specificity cannot be used to make a diagnosis because of the high proportion of cases with positive tests but negative to the reference standard i.e., there is a high false positive rate. A test with high specificity and low sensitivity is useful in making the diagnosis, but a large proportion of cases positive to the reference standard will have negative tests i.e., there is a high false negative rate,. Consequently, if making the diagnosis of SIJ dysfunction is the objective, tests for dysfunction need to have high specificity with respect to an acceptable reference standard.

You May Like: Is Selective Mutism Considered A Disability

What Is Classified As Help For A Pip Claim

You are classified as needing help to do an activity if you need a person or a device to:

• Do it for you

• Remind you to do it

• Watch you do it to keep you safe

You may also be classified as needing help if you do an activity yourself but:

• You arent safe

• You cant complete the task well enough

• You cant complete the task often

• It takes you a long time

Impairments Causing Joint Pain Or Joint Damage

Joint pain and loss of joint mobility may be caused by a number of disorders including:

• Osteoarthritis
• Traumatic damage to joints
• Neuropathic arthropathy

In all joints, osteoarthritis is the most common arthritis seen by the Social Security Administration. Osteoarthritis is also known as hypertrophic arthritis or degenerative arthritis. Osteoarthritis is not a systemic disease. It doesn’t affect the entire body its effects are confined to the involved joints. Osteoarthritis is slowly progressive and starts with damage to the cartilage on opposing ends of bone inside the joint space . Any joint in the body can be involved. Heavy impact activity on joints predisposes to the development of osteoarthritis , and osteoarthritis is associated with advancing age. Trauma to a joint, such as a fracture into a joint space, is frequently followed by development of osteoarthritis.

As joint cartilage begins to soften and thin, unusual stresses are also put on the underlying joint bone. The body responds to cartilage and bone damage by trying to grow new bone. This process can lead to osteophytes around joints or in the spine, as well as narrowing of whatever joint space is involved.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s own immune cells attack and damage the joints. The precise cause of rheumatoid arthritis is still not clear. Rheumatoid arthritis is seen 2 to 3 times as frequently in females as males. Rheumatoid arthritis often comes on gradually.

Don’t Miss: How Much Does Disability Pay In California

Anatomy Of The Sacroiliac Joint

The sacroiliac joint is the largest joint in the body and is a common cause of chronic low back pain. It has a somewhat atypical C shape connecting the spine with the pelvis bone. You have one joint on each side. As with other joints in the body, the sacroiliac joint and the surrounding ligaments can become damaged or inflamed. One condition associated with the sacroiliac joint that we see in the clinic, which can be a very painful condition is known as sacroiliitis .

Sacroiliitis can be a difficult injury to diagnose and is often an overlooked diagnosis when patients are presenting with lower back and/or buttock pain. It can cause significant pain and disability for an extended period of time. On occasions an injection is required to settle down the inflammation in the joint, particularly if anti-inflammatory medication have not resolved the pain. Sacroiliitis is also associated with other systematic inflammatory conditions such as Ankylosing Spondylitis . If you have been diagnosed with sacrolilitis you must be screened by a doctor to rule out any of these conditions.

Adipose Tissue Grafts For Foot And Ankle Arthritis

Dear Dr. Petersonyou been a very significant influence on my health over the last 20 years, starting with finding that my digestive problems were due to low stomach acid. None of the G.I. specialists came up with anything. The initial PRP prolotherapy back in 2009what a difference, especially noticeable in the osteoarthritis of my thumbs and knees.

Now with the addition of adipose tissue grafts and orthobiologics to the mix, my foot and ankle has healed and I actually have realistic hope of being able to hike long distances again.

Thank you for your drive, intellect, capability, etc., etc., etc. that have brought you to this level of healing ability, gratefully,

A.G., Lake Oswego

Recommended Reading: Va Disability And Retirement Pay Calculator

Can Hypermobility Syndrome Get Worse

With age, Hypermobility syndrome can get worse as the joints become less flexible.

Continue to work with a doctor or physiotherapist to make sure you are doing the right exercises to keep your joints from becoming too stiff and causing you pain. You also want to be careful not to overdo it as certain joints might dislocate, especially with EDS.

Severe Pain In The Foot

Pain in the foot caused by Plantar Fasciitis can cause you mobility problems as being on your feet can be very painful. Plantar Fasciitis is the inflammation of the plantar fascia ligament that runs from the heel to the front of the foot. It is a repetitive strain injury so will be helped by staying off your feet and resting them as much as possible. If rest/ staying off your feet is impossible, anti-inflammatories and shoes with cushioned insoles may help ease the pain.

If the pain persists, then your doctor might refer you for physiotherapy for specialised exercise.

Recommended Reading: How To Calculate Disability Retirement Pay

Severe Pain In Hip And Leg Joint

Pain in the hip and leg joint can be caused by the conditions mentioned above, but there are a few different conditions that might also be causing you pain.

One of such conditions is Neuropathy. Neuropathy is damage to the nervous system that causes tingling and burning in the legs and buttocks. Another is Sciatica, which is pressure or damage to the sciatic nerve which produces radiating pain throughout the hips and down the legs. A hernia can also cause radiating pain throughout the groin area.

As these conditions all have similar pains, it can be difficult to self-diagnose, especially as the pain can show up differently in people. Do consult with your doctor to get the best care.

How To Get Rid Of Severe Lower Back Pain

To get rid of severe lower back pain, you should keep active. These conditions mentioned above can leave you with poor lower-back mobility.

Continued movements and exercises can be your quickest way of having less pain. This may be difficult at first, but with use of the right moves, exercises and painkillers, you should gradually start feeling less pain.

You can take anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen to help with the pain. If your pain is terrible, then your doctor can prescribe you more potent pain killers such as codeine or muscle relaxants.

Again, using hot and cold packs can also help your pain in the short term. The NHS recommends physiotherapy or group exercise so that a professional can lead you through exercises safely for your specific pain.

You can prevent back pain by:

You May Like: How To Calculate Disability Retirement Pay

Should You Stretch If You Are Hypermobile

If you are hypermobile with Hypermobility syndrome, whether you stretch or not will be a very personal choice. You should work with a professional such as a physiotherapist to make sure you are not doing damage.

However, there is evidence that stretching can reduce inflammation in connective tissue which will help those who suffer from subluxations . Stretching is also perfect for your heart. It can make you feel good, and that release of endorphins can help relieve your pain.

The Fibro Guy, Adam Foster, goes into great detail about hypermobility as well as stretching. He writes that there are pros and cons when it comes to stretching for hypermobility and goes into detail about what is happening when someone who is hypermobile stretches.

Usually, you will not be stretching the tissue but instead manipulating your joint to move in different ways. Adam writes that stretching can be good and bad for someone who is hypermobile. You should make sure you are stretching the tissue and not over-extending.

Stretching might not lengthen muscles or strengthen them, but it will keep you aware of your body which could help your pain and prevent any dislocations.

Mobility For Knee Pain

If your mobility is suffering because of knee pain, here are a few things you can do to help.

• Try keeping the weight off your knees for long periods. Put you feet up, when sitting down for prolonged periods
• You can also use ice packs to relieve swelling.
• Paracetamol to ease any pain for no more than 3 days though. If the pain continues for longer than 3 days, then you want to get medical attention for that.

One of the biggest helps to your mobility with knee pain, are knee specific exercises. Sports websites such as Onnit feature some easy-to-follow exercises that will help your knee mobility.

You might find that exercising your ankle can significantly improve your knee pain and mobility, as well.

To help with moving around with knee pain, you may want to consider knee braces or wraps.

Again, its best to get aids such as knee braces or wraps from your local mobility store rather than online as you can try them on for best fit. These can help protect the joint. And prevent/ relieve knee pain as well.

You May Like: How Much Money Do You Get On Disability In California