Tailbone Pain: What’s Causing It and How Physical Therapy Can Help
Tailbone pain is a pain in the…. well, butt. You sit through long car rides, meetings, or in a hard chair and are constantly shifting around trying to lessen the pain. Oftentimes it takes years of different interventions prior to someone landing in my office.
Below are my top 3 things that get missed and are driving the tailbone pain in the first place.
No one has checked your tailbone in the painful position: Most people have pain with sitting, and if you’ve ever experienced tailbone pain, you’re probably nodding your head right now. Many physical therapist or medical offices examine the tailbone while lying down or standing. We need to be looking at the painful position to get a true picture of how the tailbone performs in that position. It can be stiff or move too much, both of which can be helped with the right treatment!
Pooping is queen: it’s something that no one wants to discuss, yet your pooping habits can influence your pain drastically. Your tailbone often takes the hit when you’re straining, have difficulty emptying, or hover to go the bathroom. Discussion of this and addressing good bowel habits is good, holistic care.
The sneaky culprit— the Anococcygeal Ligament: this ligament connects your tailbone to your pelvic floor muscles. When this is tight, irritated, or inflamed, if can cause a deep pain that can feel sharp or achy with sitting, during bowel movements, or even during intimacy. Pelvic floor physical therapy can help with the mobility and tenderness of this ligament by working on the ligament itself and the pelvic floor muscles that surround it. It can be a game-changer for tailbone pain.
Did you know that pelvic floor physical therapy is directly related to the management of tailbone pain? We work on myofascial connections to the tailbone, muscles that attach to the tailbone, postural adjustments, improve mobility of the SIJ and tailbone, and so much more! Check out this article here to take a deep, nerdy dive with me on all things tailbone pain and pelvic floor PT!
And if you’re wondering “what next?!” for my tailbone pain, stay tuned for my next blog post on what to do for your nagging tailbone pain. Of course, pelvic floor PT is going to be in that list, but are we surprised?
So, for anyone struggling with tailbone pain, just know there’s help out there. This is not something you have to struggle with long-term!
If you’re looking for help navigating your tailbone pain, Revive Rehab would love to help! Call at 573-257-8580 or click the link today!
