Day 1090 - Sacrotuberous Ligament

"The sacrotuberous ligament is a slender, fan-shaped ligament of the posterior pelvis located on either side of the body. This ligament arises midway down the posterior side of the sacrum, which is located at the spinal base. It primarily comprises of collagen fibers, and is strong enough to support the sacrum and prevent it against moving from its position under the body weight.

The connective tissue in this ligament joins with various other tissues, particularly the biceps femoris muscular tendon, which is an important muscle of the hamstrings on the posterior thigh region. It is also a ligament of the sacroiliac joint, which is connected to the sacrum.

It typically receives stress during aggressive physical activities and sports that may cause the arching of the spine. If it becomes strained or injured, it may result in problems similar to those of a typical iliolumbar ligament injury. The ossified or bony sacrotuberous ligament may be one of the critical causative factors in different types of neurovascular compression syndromes. An anatomical understanding of this ligament may lead to effective treatments for this clinical disease."*

*http://health.yahoo.net/human-body-maps/sacrotuberous-ligament/male#4/8

I went to see the kinesiologist again at the beginning of the month. He focused on my back during our session, in particular on the lower part where the sacrotuberous ligament is. He looked for a link between this, the TMJ and the temporalis fascia, which is exactly where my head pain is. He told me he had to work on my lower back for a few minutes. I could tell it was going to be painful but I hadn’t quite realised up to what extent.

The pain was excruciating. I felt my hands begin to tremble and suddenly tears starting flowing down my cheeks. At first they were tears of pain but soon, even when he completely stopped exerting pressure, I was unable to stop crying. I was overwhelmed with sadness; my body trembled and I sobbed and sobbed. I tried to hold myself but simply couldn’t. I don’t know what it was; the only way I can explain it is complete sadness, although for what reason I do not know (women out there may sympathise with those occasional moments when we just cry for no reason –men may find this impossible to understand).

The kinesiologist explained that when working on certain areas of the body blocked emotions can be released. These could be from traumatic events in childhood or other moments of extreme stress that one has had to deal with. It was hard to pinpoint an exact instance of this at the time.

Despite the feelings of despondency and confusion, I felt that maybe during this session we had another clue. It was the first time I had reacted in such a way during any of our appointments – the poor kinesiologist was surprised at my response to his work – and felt that maybe it was a sign we have found something.

Since then, the headache has been up and down – the first time in about a year that it has been up to 4/5 for longer periods – which makes me think that, despite the increase in pain, we may be one step closer to a solution.