Just for a little background, I have been a Farrier for 28 yrs. That is, I’m a professional horseshoer/blacksmith. I am also a LMT,CST,CKTP. My delving into a side career as a bodyworker stemmed directly from my quest to better understand how to keep myself put together and in the game. It has been quite the journey of discovery.

At 6’3″ 195#, I’m built more like a 440 hurdler than for being under a horse so, one can imagine the horrible body mechanics that ensued. In my 20’s and early 30’s I met it head on, much as you are doing. I was young, strong and hard headed. Pain is weakness leaving the body…right? So, I gutted it out. Eventually, it took me down…hard. 

Everyone has a bit of advice. Docs offer cocktails of pain killers and muscle relaxers, bed rest or maybe a bit of traction/decompression. These tactics may temporarily get one out of the woods but they don’t attack the source. When, sooner or later, these things fail, then comes the steroid injections and or surgical intervention. Thankfully, I never opted for the latter. The same basic theme continued for me through other, alternative practitioners and disciplines. Found help here and there but never cracked it and got to the source.

Without digressing further into other therapies and approaches that we’re all familiar with, let me just say that, in my experience and humble opinion, the information/advise given previously on this thread and that is taught throughout this website is absolutely spot on.  It is awesome too find the tools along with sound, thoughtful advice to help answer the questions – What? Where? Why? and How?. Priceless.

The only thing I would add is to expand on a piece offered earlier in this thread by Marc Hansen. Stress. For me it was the lynchpin. My achilles heel, so to speak. Took me years and a lot of pain to finally come to terms with it. Early in my dance with this particular malady my body could find “work arounds” to physically compensate for the lacks. The whole time I was non-consciencously building “disconnects” and mental walls around my left SI joint. As you stated in your original post, “It is running my life…”. When I came to that realization, I understood that I had embraced this as a problem and thus it ran it’s tentacles into every decision I made and every corner of my life. What I couldn’t understand was how , as an athletic, fit, healthy male, I could be so limited and unable to fully function. The harder I fought it, the more deeply ingrained it became in my psyche…thus, the more it controlled my every decision. Stress. I did not know how to undo it…

While there have been several “Aha” moments for me where I thought I’d found the solution, I look back now and realize that most were just pieces to the puzzle…tools to add to my personal toolbox. One of the larger of those pieces for me and what I would call a game changer was a book a friend gave me titled ‘Healing Back Pain’ by Dr. John Sarno. I would heartily recommend it to you. I laugh as I remember the friend who recommended it to me. Super guy but a little off the chart into metaphysics. I thought, “Oh God, this is going to be some treatise on how to channel alien life forms and chant bizarre mantras”…lol. Turns out it is a practical study (loaded with scientific blind studies) by a top spinal surgeon, on how the spine functions and specifically, how stress manifests physiologically around the spine. Inexpensive book, easy read, written in layman’s terms. You won’t find a better bargain.

I apologize for running on and in closing I would reiterate a resounding yes to the above comments on meeting and dealing with the physical aspects of your challenge. Try all of them. Some will work better that others for you and some will work at different time and stages of your progression. Tools for your tool box. Consider as well the mind-body connection. I’m reasonably sure you will find it to be a critical piece in your journey to full function and wellness. One last bit of advise…don’t stress over finding the source of your stress :o). Don’t ask how I know about this…lol. Best of luck to you!