tACKLING Tailbone PAIN

Pregnancy is an incredible time of change, but it can also come with aches and pains that are anything but enjoyable. One of the more frustrating—and sometimes overlooked—complaints is tailbone pain.

Tailbone pain can develop during pregnancy, after childbirth, or both. For some people, it improves shortly after delivery. For others, the discomfort can linger for weeks or months and make everyday activities such as sitting, getting up from a chair, driving, exercising, or caring for a newborn surprisingly difficult.

The good news? You don't necessarily have to simply wait for it to go away. A combination of soft tissue techniques, targeted stretching, and exercise can help address the underlying muscle and movement issues contributing to pain.

Why Does Tailbone Pain Happen During Pregnancy?

The coccyx is the small, triangular bone at the very bottom of the spine. It plays an important role in sitting and serves as an attachment point for several muscles and ligaments, including structures associated with the pelvic floor. When muscles around the pelvis and hips become tight or overactive, they may contribute to increased tension around the coccyx. 

During pregnancy, your body undergoes significant hormonal and biomechanical changes. As your abdomen grows, your posture and center of gravity change, increasing stress on the low back, pelvis, and tailbone as the tissues adapt to pregnancy and prepare for delivery. In some cases, this can contribute to irritation, excessive mobility, or injury around the tailbone. After deliver, tailbone pain can also develop in association with pelvic floor muscle tension or postpartum pelvic girdle dysfunction. 

What Does Tailbone Pain Feel Like?
Tailbone pain may feel different from person to person, but common symptoms include:

• Tenderness directly over the tailbone 

• Aching or sharp pain around the base of the spine 

• Pain when sitting, especially for prolonged periods

• Discomfort when leaning backward while sitting 

• Pain when moving from sitting to standing

For new parents, these symptoms can be particularly challenging. Feeding a baby, rocking them to sleep, working at a computer, or simply sitting down for a meal can become uncomfortable.

How To Tackle Tailbone Pain

Tailbone pain can be an uncomfortable part of pregnancy and postpartum recovery. But it doesn't have to be a persistent pain in your life. Recovery depends on improving the mobility, strength, coordination, and tolerance of the surrounding tissues.

Soft Tissue Treatment

For someone experiencing tailbone pain, it is common that the muscles around the hips, glutes and pelvis are contributing to the problem. Massage, manual release, cupping or dry needling, when appropriate, can decrease muscle tension, reduce pain and improve movement quality.

While soft tissue treatments can be extremely beneficial for assisting with muscle tension, no soft tissue technique should be viewed as a standalone solution. They are simply a tool within a larger treatment plan that should include exercise, mobility work, education and movement retraining. 

Stretching

Gentle breathing, hip stretching and pelvic floor relaxation can be particularly helpful when muscle tension is contributing to pain by improving mobility. Consider stretching for the:

• glutes and hip rotators

• hip flexors

• hamstrings

• lower back

• pelvic floor

It's important to remember that stretching alone is not the answer. Aggressive stretching into pain can sometimes make an irritated area feel worse. And when it comes to the pelvic floor, tension may be related to a need for strengthening, not lengthening. 

Strengthening

Pregnancy and childbirth can change how your core, hips, back, and pelvic floor muscles coordinate. Gradually rebuilding strength is an important part of longer-term recovery that can help your body tolerate the demands of daily life, including lifting, carrying, walking, climbing stairs, and caring for your baby.

Beneficial exercises may include:

• Gentle core activation

• Glute and hip strengthening

• Squats and functional movements

• Pelvic floor exercises when appropriate

Exercise during pregnancy and after childbirth is generally beneficial for people without medical or obstetric contraindications, although the type and intensity should be adapted to the individual. If you have medical concerns, speak with your OBGYN to make sure exercise is appropriate to add to your pre- and post-partum routine. 

You Don't Have to "Just Live With It”
You don't have to wait until tailbone pain becomes severe before seeking help. Consider seeing a pelvic floor physical therapist if your pain:

• Makes sitting difficult

• Interferes with sleep or daily activities

• Limits your ability to exercise

• Continues after childbirth

• Is getting worse rather than better

• Makes caring for your baby difficult

• Is accompanied by other pelvic floor, hip, or low-back symptoms

At FIXXED, our pelvic floor physical therapists can assess more than just the location of your pain. They can look at how your pelvis, spine, hips, core, and pelvic floor are working together. Treatment may include education, movement modifications, manual therapy, stretching, strengthening, and functional exercises to improve the mobility, strength, coordination, and tolerance of the surrounding tissues The right combination depends on what's actually contributing to your pain.

Most importantly, postpartum recovery isn't about rushing your body back to where it was before pregnancy. It's about gradually rebuilding strength, mobility, and confidence so you can move comfortably and get back to the activities you enjoy.

Interested in getting back to life without tailbone pain? Schedule a physical therapy consult today.