Question
QUESTION: I am a thirty year old active woman.  I would consider myself a healthy individual; one who eats well and works out five times a week (usually 45 minutes or so on the elliptical).  I writing to you because I am extremely frightened that I have been permanently damaged.  About 12 weeks ago, I went on a run.  As I was running, I felt a slight pull in the middle to lower section of my back on the left side.  I came home stretched out and when I got out of bed the next morning, I felt a sharp pain.  The sharp pain became a dull ache when sitting or standing for long periods of time. I was not able to feel the pain, although it did hurt along the top of my left buttock.  About six years ago, I was diagnosed with a degenerative disc with a 1 mm bulge (on the right side of the disc) in my L5 S1 disc.  It eventually healed up, as that was what I expected this injury to do.  After 6 weeks of not feeling better at all, I decided to try my luck with a chiropractor.  I went to a reputable chiropractor, whom after doing a number of varied tests on me, determined it was my left SI joint causing this annoying pain.  He did not take Xrays, as I had them done previously and everything was fine.  He was aware of my previous injury.  He did an SI Joint manipulation on me (One that required me to lay on a table sideways and place my left leg over my right in the shape of a four.  He then brought my left shoulder up towards my knee).  I left feeling dizzy and maybe a little better.  As the day went on, my SI joint began to throb, my upper left buttock began to hurt and my left calf began to tingle.  The dizziness subsided after about 24 hours.  I did not go back for further treatment, as I was scared since I hurt worse than my initial injury. Now, 6 weeks later, my SI Joint is tender to the touch, my upper left buttock aches. I can hardly sit or stand for more than 15 minutes at a time.  My calf tingles on and off.  When I lay flat on my back, I feel as though I am laying on a protruding bone on my left side (around my SI joint) and when looking in the mirror from the front, it looks like my right pelvis bone sticks out a little further than my left side.  Not to mention, I have an unbelievable amount of lower back stiffness.  I have a few questions for you. Can a chiropractor permanently damage your SI joint or tilt your pelvis in one manipulation? If so, are there stretches or exercises that I can do to put myself back in allignment? Can a chiropractor fracture your sacrum during an SI adjustment?    I did see a spine specialist after the chiropractor incident and had an MRI of my lower lumbar.  It is the exact same as it was 6 years ago.  In advance, I am really appreciative of your thoughts and advice.

ANSWER: If the chiropractor was very aggressive, he could have injured the joint...it is not common, but is always a possibility.  Were there any types of therapies done (elec. stim, ultrasound, etc).  These may prove to be beneficial to the injury.  I would suggest finding a different chiropractor first (since the MRI shows no real change, it appears that no further damage was done to the disc).  A chiropractor that uses soft tissue techniques would be of benefit.  Also, different adjustive techniques (Thompson, activator, Pierce) would also help

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QUESTION: Thanks for your response.  Prior to the manipulation the chiropractor warmed up the area of my left SI joint with an ultrasound.  Other than that, I am currently in Physical Therapy for my bulging disc.  I have had some ultrasound a few times after the incident.  I have also been regularly icing and heating the area.  Can one SI adjustment move you out of alignment?  As of now, I feel different and am wondering if over time I will eventually heal up back to normal.  To be honest, I am scared to go to a chiropractor for fear of being injured more.  Any thoughts?

Answer
I can understand your hesitance.  Unfortunately, just like with medical doctors, there are good and bad chiropractors.  It is possible to have caused the misalignment by the adjustment; pain like you experienced is not normal.  I would follow through with the PT.  See if you have a lingering problem (you will know).  If you do, ask around for a good chiropractor.  If you need help locating, message me again.  If I can help you locate one, I will