As the sun starts to stick around a little longer in the evenings and the Atlantic breeze carries a touch of warmth, it feels like the perfect time to stretch the legs and enjoy the outdoors. Maybe it’s a brisk walk along Enniscrone beach, a weekend cycle, or simply catching up on some long overdue DIY. But for many, this seasonal surge in movement can bring something less welcome: that familiar ache around the base of the spine.

It’s that sort of pain you feel just off-centre in the lower back—sharp one minute, dull the next. It might catch when you bend to pick something up or linger after a long car journey. It’s easy to assume it’s “just the back acting up again.” But what if it’s not your back at all?

At ARC Rehabilitation & Pilates, we see this more often than you might think. What seems like typical lower back pain is, in many cases, actually an issue with the Sacroiliac Joint—or SI joint for short.

Tucked away deep in your pelvis, the SI joints connect your spine to your hips. They don’t move much, but when they do—especially if they become stiff, irritated, or overloaded—the result is pain that mimics classic lower back pain almost perfectly.

We often see people who’ve been trying to stretch their lower back for weeks or have been given generic back exercises that simply aren’t hitting the mark. That’s because SI joint dysfunction behaves a little differently. The pain is often more to one side, sometimes wrapping into the buttock or even down the leg. It’s aggravated by standing for too long, walking on uneven ground, or doing asymmetrical movements—like lunges or single-leg exercises.

Just like overdoing the gardening without pacing yourself can lead to a stiff, painful back, overloading your SI joint without realising it can quietly build up into a constant source of discomfort.

And here’s the tricky part—SI joint issues are notoriously misdiagnosed. That’s why our team takes extra care during your Initial Consultation to test the right things. We look at how your pelvis moves, how your core muscles are supporting you, and whether the pain changes with different loads and positions. It’s like peeling back the layers to uncover what’s really going on under the surface.

Once we have the right diagnosis, the path to recovery becomes much clearer.

Treatment for SI joint dysfunction at ARC might include hands-on techniques to free up any stiffness, core activation work to restore stability, and Reformer Pilates, which allows for safe, guided movement that supports the pelvis without flaring things up. The smooth, controlled resistance on the reformer is especially helpful in retraining your body to move well without stress to the joints.

We also teach you how to manage your day-to-day activities—like sitting, walking, or lifting—in ways that ease pressure on the SI joint and keep pain at bay.

So if you’ve been treating your “back pain” but nothing seems to stick, it might be time to ask: Is it really my back… or could it be my SI joint?

You don’t need to go on guessing. We’re here to help you find the root of the issue and get you back to doing all the things you enjoy—with freedom and confidence.

📧 Email: [email protected]
📞 Phone: 0861763809