coccyx displaced during childbirth

[cardamomginger]

morning everyone!
since giving birth 8 weeks ago i have had bad pain in my coccyx, particularly when sitting and when walking, and the position of the bone had just felt very wrong. for those of you who do pilates, it's been impossible for me to get a neutral spine. i saw the physio who had been treating me for spd and sge says it's got pushed out of alignment and she's trying to manipulate it to get it back. had 1 session so far, but still feels very wrong. has anyone else had this? have been googling (i know - bad cardamom!) and am now worried that i may have fractured it. would a physio be able to tell this, or should i get an xray? other joints around the birth canal are not feeling great either....

I had this. I was in agony for 8 weeks with it, dosed up on painkillers, tried a special cushion to sit on. Don't know what happened but I woke up one morning and the pain had gone and I know it was between 8 & 10 weeks it happened because it was between checks with the gp.

That's probably not much help to you cos mine seemed to just correct itself but you have my sympathies because it was bloody awful.

glad you are feeling better crafty. i tell you, between this, the infections and the perineal and vaginal adhesions, i am SICK of this!!! and the way I feel right now DD will remain an only child....

anyone else???

I had pain from my coccyx for a long time after the birth of dc2 (maybe cause he was 10lbs 13oz) but didnt do anything till i went back to work (in the physio dept) when dc2 was about 10 months. I could hardly sit without pain and then getting up after sitting then walking was also agony.

The physio treated it with ultrasound over the area and it was better after about 6 sessions.

And the pain has never came back!
Hope that helps.

thanks! glad you are better . am having ultrasound as well, so hopefully all will be ok!

Thanks for this thread. I've been trying to figure out what's been wrong with me since having DD2 2 weeks ago and I'm pretty sure this is it.

I have awful pain when I sit down, particularly when leaning back. My coccyx hurts to touch but it also hurts if I press on the bones in my buttocks (the ones that bear your weight when sitting down). When I stand up from sitting the pain as the joint releases is awful and from time to time it clicks, especially when I'm in bed. I'm desperate to get rid of it but it isn't showing any sign of getting better. I had bad SPD and a big baby which I'm sure hasn't helped.

Crafty - what kind of cushion did you try? Was it any good? I just can't get comfortable sitting on anything at the minute

sounds like it . how's walking? not great for me. i've got the clicking as well...

Walking is less painful than it was before giving birth. By that point I was on crutches just to get round the house and dragging my feet along the floor. Now my whole pelvis feels really unstable when I walk but I'm finding it hard to tell what might be the remnants of the SPD and what might be new damage.

How are you getting on with physio treatment?I've got a referral back to the hospital physio in December for the SPD. Hopefully they will be able to treat the coccyx problems aswell.

Had my second physio appointment this afternoon. More manipulation of the coccyx to get it in the right position and some manipulation of the pubic bone. She did ultrasound to both areas. She says that it is improved and should continue to do so, partiucularly as I have now stopped breast feeding so my levels of relaxin should go back to pre-pregnancy levels within about 2 months, which should help reduce any instability in the joints. She said that my pelvic floor is very weak and that strenghtening this will help with coccyx and pubic instability. Have to remember to do my pelvic floor exercises 6-8 times a day. I have one more physio session next week and then she says I should see how it goes for a few weeks and get back to her if I feel things are still not right. In the meantime, have to sit up very straight, keep my legs together, and roll over on to my side when getting out of bed - bascially all the SPD type stuff. Oh and to make sure I don't get constipated because the pressure and strain of constipation can make an unstable and painful coccyx worse. This is all so deeply joyful, isn't it . Good luck and hope we both feel better soon! X

hi cardomonginger my coccyx was agony for weeks after giving birth (much worse than the stitches, i barely noticed those!) but it did get better eventually. it was a nightmare finding a comfortable position to bf in until i worked out how to do it lying down. took at least six months to get properly better i reckon (ds now 15 months).

i bought a coccyx cushion online from physio supplies for about £20 and that was a real boon - it's wedge shaped with a hole at the back so there is no pressure on your coccyx. i'll send you mine if you like!

camflower - that's really kind of you! thank you! i have sent you a message

I'm 19 weeks pregnant and have been suffering with a fractured coccyx since September 2009. Ive been seen by the consultant at my local hospital and I'm told there is nothing this can do for me, it just takes time apparently. That doesn't exactly thrill me as Ive now been in pain for 15 months. With being pregnant I can no longer take painkillers and now I'm faced with the fear of it breaking again during labour. If one fracture takes this long to heal, how long with another one take and then I'm faced with that extreme agony in the beginning which I can only describe as torture. Ive asked my maternity consultant if they will consider a section to alleviate any pressure in that area and they are very non-committal at the moment telling me that's worse than labour. For me its not the labour I'm dreading just a very very long recovery for the 2nd time