Coccyx pain during pregnancy: causes and tips to relieve pain
Do you suffer from coccyx pain during pregnancy?
You're certainly not alone! About 45% of all pregnant women experience tailbone pain to a greater or lesser extent. Do you want to know where this pain comes from and what you can do to relieve the symptoms? In this blog I explain what causes tailbone pain during pregnancy and I give practical tips to reduce the pain.
Lately, I have been hearing more and more from pregnant women in my practice that, in addition to lower back pain and pelvic pain, they also experience specific pain around the tailbone. This pain – at the bottom of the back, at the lower tip of the spine – is mainly felt when sitting, when getting up from a chair or when you sleep on one side for a long time. Coccyx pain can be quite annoying, especially if you move or work daily. Fortunately, there are several ways to understand, alleviate, and prevent the pain.
Why can you have pain in your tailbone during pregnancy?
During your pregnancy, your body is prepared so that it can carry your baby, that your baby can grow in your womb and that you can also give birth after 9 months. In those months you get a huge hormone boost and especially the hormones progesterone and relaxin ensure that all muscles, ligaments and joints become more flexible so that your baby can descend.
As your baby grows, your center of gravity changes and the position of your pelvis changes, it tilts forward, as it were, putting pressure on your pelvic floor muscles and your sacrum - tailbone, more backwards. This can cause you to feel it more than usual when you sit or that you can feel sharp shooting pains when your pelvis suddenly changes, for example when getting up from sitting for a long time, climbing stairs or cycling.
What makes the tailbone pain worse now that you are pregnant?
- Sitting for a long time, especially on a hard chair.
Upon entering my practice, I invite everyone to sit quietly so that you can ground yourself and ask how things are going. This was also the case recently with a heavily pregnant woman who I have been able to massage a few times recently and now she came 2 days before giving birth. Despite the fact that my chair is made of velvet and nice and soft, she had trouble sitting because of the pain. Even while undressing where she had to bend over to take off her shoes and socks, I saw that it was painful. But she did indicate that she had relief from the pain every time after the massage and that the massage helped her.
- Bending over
Putting on socks and shoes is often painful, but so is picking up clothes or toys from the floor and bending over when vacuuming.
- Lift
Especially if you already have a toddler or preschooler walking around and you are pregnant again and have pain in your tailbone, lifting your child on 1 hip or lifting heavy groceries is a crime.
- Walking up stairs
While climbing stairs, you always put 1 leg in front of the other and shift your weight to the other leg. This puts a lot of tension on 1 side of your pelvis and pelvic floor muscles.
- To have a bowel movement
Even when going to the toilet, when you have to poop, when opening your intestine, it can already be painful if pressure goes along the tailbone.
Effective Solutions for Tailbone Pain During Pregnancy
There are a few things you can do and use to reduce the pain:
- Use a special pillow every time you sit down to take the pressure off your tailbone. Nowadays you have them in several forms.
For example, I recently gave a woman the tip for a special pillow after a massage. She told me that her mother also had problems with her tailbone and perhaps she could borrow it, an older model with a round hole in it. But nowadays you also have them made of gel, in a U-shape or in a kind of wedge shape. Who knows, maybe someone in your area has another pillow like that.
- Try not to sit for too long at a time and get up often to walk a bit.
- Pay attention to a good posture both sitting and standing.
Balance and symmetry are important during your pregnancy as your ligaments become more flexible and more demand is placed on your muscles, for example when you stand on 1 leg. If you're sitting on a chair, make sure your feet are on the floor, not crossing your legs, and sit up straight and engage your core. And don't stand on 1 leg to put on your sock or shoe.
- While sleeping, you can use a pillow between your knees.
Every pregnant woman who has had a massage with me knows that I give a massage in a side position where you are supported with a long pillow for your legs and belly. I explain that this is the best, neutral position for your pelvis and hips while lying down. I also have special belly pillows for sale in the practice, the Belly Drop, which can support your growing belly. (more on this in the read Blog)
- When lifting heavy bags, try to do this in balance.
Try to lift as few heavy things or your child as possible and if you do have to lift it, bend your knees and keep changing hips and keeping it close to you.
- Climbing stairs.
Walk up the stairs, 1 step at a time. Take a step with your least painful leg up and put the painful leg next to it. When going down, you first put your painful leg and connect the least painful one.
- Maintain a healthy bowel movements.
By drinking enough water and a high-fiber diet, you ensure that less pressure passes your sacrum.
- Try to be as active as possible within your pain limits. Avoid activities that cause you pain.
- Physiotherapy, exercises, but also regular pregnancy massage can relieve your pain somewhat.
During the massage. I massage around the pelvis, glutes and sacrum and this is experienced as very pleasant by women with tailbone pain and gives them relief from the pain for some time. I think it is important that you have a nice, healthy pregnancy and can enjoy this special time. Do you recognize yourself in the above complaints and are you looking for relief? Contact us or book a pregnancy massage.