Tailbone pain

[tay21]

Hi, I'm 11 weeks pregnant and have been suffering with a really sore tailbone, has anyone ever suffered with this and have any tips to soothe it? I struggle to sit and to get up from sitting down seems like such a task as it's so sore, if I walk around it's worsens too and hurts for the whole day and barely goes away so I guess I'm probably just stuck with it for now

Not from pregnancy but I broke my coccyx and a rubber ring was a lifesaver

I did for a while, at around the same time too. My outer hips hurt as well, especially after I’d been lying on then a while at night. I used a million pillow to try to sleep and ended up getting a new mattress too. That was at about 18 weeks and at the same time the baby moved upwards out of my hips and the pain went away. I’ve still no idea if it was due to the mattress, the baby moving or both.

Unfortunately the pain has returned in the last few weeks to my pubic bone, so I’ve got an appointment with a physio about managing SPD pain. I’m nearly 29 weeks now and had this since about 25.

You’re not alone though and can self refer online to physio if it’s too much

@AriettyHomily hi, did you have an X-ray to confirm? I fell down the stairs about 5 months ago and back then my coccyx was just plain agony 24/7. Due to covid they couldn't X-ray and the GP prescribed painkillers. 3 weeks later I found out I was pregnant.
The pain has subsided significantly but there are still days when it really plays up ... any advice on how long until I feel fully recovered ?!

I had this problem after I gave birth for a few months and it got better. But the other day I was at the hairDressers and was seated for roughly 3 hours and now got this shooting pain down my tailbone. I can't sit up without aching, getting up and down hurts really bad. I've been using pillows and painkillers. I believe the cause of it was during birth and naturally I have been carrying dc, bending down, carrying dcs pram and he is heavier now so that's what's caused it to flare up again. When I was 6 months pregnant, I went for a pregnancy massage and the masseur said my muscles by my tailbone was very weak and I needed to do pregnancy Pilates to strengthen it.

I have PGP, and tailbone pain is a common symptom

I get the best pain relief from stretching.

This is especially helpful if you can’t get to a physio cos of coronavirus.

Much of the pain is caused by tightness and spasm in the muscles tendons and ligaments

This video is great. No 7 is my favourite, I would avoid 6 & 8 when pregnant!

11 weeks is early for PGP (pelvic girdle pain) but that's probably what you have.

Sorry to say it but it will get worse so you need to be proactive now to manage it as best you can.

Ask your midwife for a physio referral, in my experience NHS physios have been rather useless for PGP but some are better than others, so it's worth getting a referral in (and ASAP because you'll have to wait for an appt, if you're not referred until later in pregnancy you'll be lucky to be seen before the birth).

If you can afford it, see a private physio or osteopath that specialises in women's health and has experience of treating pregnant women. You need someone who does manual therapy and they should be able to advise you about exercises that will help (both strengthening and stretching).

Useful advice on this website and there is a FB group too: pelvicpartnership.org.uk/