Bruised coccyx - reassurance if you can

[Playdough]

I am 36 weeks pregnant now and two days ago while doing some housework I sat down very heavily on the exact corner of one of those children's tables from IKEA, because I forgot it was behind me . The pain at the time was intense and now I have a very, very bruised tailbone. Sitting is hard, getting up from sitting is even harder, at the moment I can't even drive ... so the thought of going into labour like this is horrible. I have Googled the injury with rather depressing results. It seems it can take weeks (months, or even years!) to recover completely. Oh, and the recommended treatment is regular doses ibruprofen over a prolonged period, which I believe is a definite no-no at this stage of pregnancy. Can anyone cheer me up with more uplifting tales of speedy recovery? Or has anyone given birth in this condition, and just not noticed the pain .... she said, clutching at straws.

Well I would recommend getting this seen by an Osteopath BEFORE going into labour. You may be lucky and the birth itself will click the coccyx back into place but depending on what position it has moved into, it may have locked and could actually impede your baby's southward journey. It is really common for the coccyx to become damaged during the birth and to be sore for a while afterwards (as happened to me) and yes it can take a while to heal but it is not always as acutely painful for the entire duration of the healing. The pain is actually coming from the displaced coccyx digging into surrounding bone or tissue so the level of pain will change as it moves.

Ibuprofen is a no no in pregnancy and is only really masking the problem. A skilled ostepath should at least be able to feel what position it has moved into and can advise on whether they can assist. Try to find one who specialises in women's health. Not sure where you are, I can give you contacts for Scotland but not sure of any down south.

Howdie, Independent Midwife

I think this is what I must have!

2 weeks post birth I noticed it was very painful to sit & stand from sitting. Put it down to muscles etc & hoped, like everything else pregnancy related, it would go away. Not sure how it happened, don't remember hitting it, had an elective c section. Had SPD, not sure if related.

Dd2 is now 3 months old & the pain is fading. However, I cannot sit upright on a hard chair [dining room chair for example] for too long as it starts to get painful again. I found this out on Friday & it still feels more painful now.

So I guess the good news is that it will get better, with time. I haven't felt the need to take painkillers yet!

Yep Sandcastles, sounds like it. You could also try going to an osteopath if that's an option for you. It's not really necessarily related to the SPD but it is unusual to have it after an elective section as it's often the action of the head passing down past the coccyx that displaces it.

Often women will have had this underlying for years, dating waaaaay back to a childhood injury such as falling off a bike and then it's not until childbirth when all our joints etc are loosed with the pregnancy hormones that problems like this appear.

There are so many common conditions that can
be attibuted to pelvic instability and misalighment that we just put down to "normal part of being a woman and/or ageing" - such as stress incontinence for eg. Find a good osteopath and have them do a full assessment of you, it really can make a difference.

Howdie, Independent Midwife

Thanks Howdie! That is re assuring! I was worrying that it could have been to do with the spinal I had!

Will see about seeing an osteopath, thanks again!

I had this after my DD was born. THe one thing which REALLY helped was a "coccyx cushion", which you can buy online, just Google it. It has a cut out part at the back which takes the pressure off your coccyx and helps a LOT. It allowed me to feed my DD without being in tears of pain in the early days, and I still use it in the car as I find long car journeys a bit sore.

Thanks so much for the advice. I shall certainly seek out one of the cushions and, Howdie, an osteopath sounds like a very wise idea. I know of a good one near me who has been recommended to friends during pregnancy so I'll get her details and see what she thinks. I hadn't thought about the displacement aspect of the injury so it'll be good to make sure that it's not in a position that would make delivery harder! Thanks again.