01/07/2020
Perhaps the most frequently heard myth I encounter on a daily basis.
The pelvis is a very big solid structure and the old myths of it being out of alignment are well and truly busted.
Back your body it is more resilient than you think 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
😖MYTHS🥴
The myth of the unstable, out of position, misaligned pelvis is one of the most common in all therapy professions and its one of the hardest to quash
There is of course no doubt that the pelvic joints called the Sacroilliac Joints or SIJ can be a source of pain for some people for various reasons.
Although estimates of the prevalence of SIJ pain is difficult it is thought to be around 15-30% of all mechanical low back pain (ref: Cohen 2013 Expert Rev Neurother)
However, determining if the SIJ is out of position or alignment as the cause of pain is simply impossible despite many claims to the contrary by many therapists
Just like the unstable or out of position scapula the first issue with the unstable or out of position pelvis is what is unstable or out of position and how can we tell?
We know the pelvis is variable in its shape from person to person with the common bony landmarks often used to assess its position differing by over 25° in their alignment (ref: Preece 2008 JMMT)
We also know that the SIJs have a small amount of movement, just a few degrees or millimetres at most, but we also know that there is no ability or reliability to assess and decide when there is too much or too little movement of these joints (ref: Riddle 2002 Phys Ther; Goode 2008 Phys Ther; Frenurger 2009 Phys Ther; Holmgren 2008 Man Ther; Robinson 2007 Man Ther; Haneline 2009 J Manip Phy Ther etc etc)
To put this as simply as I can there is just NO reliable or accurate way to clinically assess pelvic position or SIJ movements and so ALL clinical pelvic assessments are ALL guess work
