How to Diagnose Sacroiliac Pain
- 1). Make an appointment with a medical doctor or pain-management specialist to discuss symptoms you are experiencing.
- 2). At the appointment, tell your doctor that you are experiencing back pain. Ask him to write you an order for an MRI of your back. This will allow him to check for a herniated disc, which might be causing the pain. An MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, can uncover problems in the tissues, bodily fluids or bones.
- 3). After the MRI, a doctor overseeing the MRI or your prescribing doctor will analyze the results for evidence of a herniated disc or sacroiliac joint dysfunction.
- 4). If the MRI rules out a herniated disc, your doctor will conduct a spine exam to further check for pain in the sacroiliac joint. For this, you will lie on the examination table and bend the leg that is on the side of the pain. This will determine whether putting pressure on the area where the joint is located induces pain.
- 5). If there is pain and other conditions have been ruled out, it is most likely caused by the sacroiliac joint. An injection test can accurately diagnosis the condition at this point. In this test, the doctor injects lidocaine into the joint. Lidocaine is a numbing agent that can be used as an anesthetic. If the lidocaine relieves you of the pain, then the doctor can determine that the sacroiliac joint is the cause of the problem and treat you accordingly.
