Pregnancy is a huge stress for the entire female body, and childbirth can often result in a whole “bouquet” of pathological conditions for a woman that she had never even thought about before. Thus, a huge percentage of young mothers complain that their tailbone hurts after childbirth. For some, this condition is temporary and goes away a couple of weeks after the birth of the child, while others cannot boast of such a quick relief from the unpleasant sensations that have haunted them for many months.
Why does the tailbone hurt after childbirth?
When asked why the tailbone hurts after childbirth, medical experts give a lot of answers. Typically, pain occurs due to natural physiological changes that a woman's body goes through during pregnancy. But we should also not exclude the possibility of other pathologies that are not associated with deformation of the skeleton, pelvis and internal organs.
Changing the position of the pelvic bones
Even during pregnancy, the center of gravity of the body shifts, as a result of which almost the entire spinal column suffers. And closer to childbirth, when the fetus gradually begins to shift to the lower part of the pelvis, this part of the body also gets affected. The bones gradually move apart, preparing to release the baby into the world, and during this period a pregnant woman may experience unpleasant or even painful sensations. After childbirth, the pelvic bones do not immediately return to their previous position; they require some time. During this period after childbirth, young mothers complain that their tailbone and lower back hurt.
Pressure during childbirth
The strength of contractions, especially at a dilation of more than 4–6 cm, in most women in labor becomes so intense that it can be compared to the doors of an elevator closing in front of you. The pressure in the uterine cavity increases, expelling the fetus out. Moreover, this effect occurs not only on the baby, but also on the organs surrounding the uterus. As a result, for a certain time, a woman in labor may experience painful sensations - they come from the organ that suffered more than others during childbirth.
Lack of calcium
Starting from the second trimester of pregnancy, gynecologists prescribe calcium supplements to women, which will help maintain healthy teeth and bones. Unfortunately, these dietary supplements are not always effective. No one can predict how much calcium a fetus, and then a breastfed baby, will consume. The lack of such an important mineral provokes a deterioration in the functions of the spine, makes nails more brittle, and negatively affects the health of teeth. Calcium deficiency after childbirth makes the musculoskeletal system quite fragile and susceptible to external influences - which is why young mothers note that their tailbone, back or legs are very sore.
Inflammation of the female genital organs
Childbirth has a negative impact not only on the skeleton, but also on the internal genital organs of a woman. After pregnancy, various bacteria and infections can easily penetrate into their cavity - for several weeks the uterus remains an extensive wound surface, on which, with insufficient hygiene, pathogens of inflammatory processes quickly multiply. To mitigate the risks of such an outcome, carefully follow the recommendations of your gynecologist and do not neglect preventive examinations.
Symptoms and types of pain
For a doctor to make a correct diagnosis, it is important to know not only why the tailbone hurts after childbirth, but also what sensations this pain is characterized by. And it can be of the most unexpected nature, from aching to acute, and be periodic or constant. Additional symptoms in some cases include fever, vomiting or diarrhea, and cystitis. In addition to direct pain in the tailbone, pain can radiate to the perineum, anus, lower leg, thighs, and also radiate to the gluteal muscles.
Nature of pain
If a woman characterizes pain as very intense or sharp, and there is fever, then most likely there is an inflammatory process progressing in the uterine cavity. In this case, you need to make an appointment with a gynecologist
, who will conduct a visual examination and perform an ultrasound to check for the presence of clots that were not rejected during uterine contractions after childbirth. When, after childbirth, the tailbone hurts when sitting or walking for a long time, and the sensation is rather pulling or aching, we are talking about pathologies of the musculoskeletal system, even a fracture of the tailbone is possible. This problem is already solved by the surgeon.
When should you see a doctor?
Often, injuries to the coccyx are not noticed by medical staff and women in labor, since swelling with sprains and pain always occurs during childbirth. The pain syndrome may go away on its own if the tailbone is slightly displaced. When the displacement is serious, the ligaments become strained and the pain intensifies. They appear during physical activity, radiate to the gluteal region, the symptoms are similar to lumbodynia.
Medical assistance required:
- in case of discomfort that lasts 2 weeks;
- pain radiating to the buttock;
- stretching of the symphysis pubis;
- pain sensations involving the sciatic nerve.
Diagnostics
The female body in the postpartum period is an incredibly fragile system, so self-medication, so beloved by many Russian women, is out of the question. If you experience symptoms that worry you, contact doctors from the Energo clinic. Our specialists will collect the most complete medical history, ask you how long and how intensely the tailbone hurts after childbirth, conduct the necessary examinations, and write out directions for blood and urine tests (if there is a suspicion of inflammation of the genitourinary system). Other examination methods will also be used - for example, using ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging
.
Treatment
There are several types of treatment for pain in the coccyx - these are drug treatment, manual therapy, physical therapy and sanatorium procedures. The method of treatment is selected individually and depends on the cause that caused the pain in the tailbone. Initially neurologist
will definitely evaluate all the risks, since if a woman is breastfeeding, then a number of medications are prohibited for her. Exercise therapy includes a set of specially designed gentle exercises that can be performed several weeks after childbirth (the period depends on the method of delivery - natural or by cesarean section). As additional methods of positive effects on the body, experts often recommend visiting the pool or massage - these procedures will strengthen the muscle corset and reduce pain without resorting to the use of medications. If conservative treatment does not bring the desired effect, surgery may be indicated for you.
Exercises
A separate column includes sets of exercises designed specifically to maintain a woman’s health during the postpartum period. This includes, for example, the well-known Kegel exercises, the purpose of which is to restore the former tone to the internal muscles, prevent prolapse of the vaginal walls and prolapse of the uterus (this becomes especially important if the woman has not given birth for the first time or the fetus was quite large in size). The doctor at the exercise therapy office will tell you in detail what physical exercises to do if your tailbone hurts a lot after childbirth. You can do gymnastics at home, but before doing so, be sure to consult with a specialist - you should not trust advisers on the Internet or even friends.
Treatment of pain in the coccyx
The approach to treating this problem must be comprehensive; only in this case is the most positive result possible in a shorter period of time. Correct diagnosis, identification of the root cause and provision of timely qualified assistance are the key to successful treatment.
Osteopathy successfully treats pain in the tailbone. The use of special osteopathic techniques allows you to relieve muscle tension, normalize their blood supply and innervation, restore the correct position of the sacrum and adjacent anatomical formations, increase the body's resistance and launch self-healing mechanisms.
It must be said that the treatment of coccyx pain requires an individual approach, as does the treatment of any osteopathic dysfunction in the body. Osteopathy considers the body as a whole, so to treat this problem, sometimes it is not enough to correct the damaged structure. Let's give an approximate sequence of manipulations. It is necessary to work on the respiratory and pelvic diaphragms and balance them. Eliminate existing blocks in the joints of the pelvic ring, restore mobility (mobility) of the abdominal and pelvic organs, if there are any mobility impairments. For this purpose, muscle-energy techniques, visceral, fascial, mobilization and general osteopathic techniques are used. The choice depends on the technical equipment of the osteopath. Thus, the osteopath restores normal blood supply in the abdominal cavity and pelvis. Only after this the osteopath proceeds to work directly with the coccyx. Its mobility and intraosseous tension are determined. After this, correction is performed in various ways. Basically, two approaches are used: external and internal (per rectum). After correction, tension in the dura mater is necessarily eliminated, and cranio-sacral (occipital-sacral) balancing is performed to increase the vitality of the body.
Do not forget that it is very important to seek help in a timely manner, and not to start the process, thereby complicating its course.
Prevention
You can avoid the occurrence of painful sensations and all the physical and psychological problems associated with them if you are attentive to your own health after childbirth and catch the slightest “alarm bells” from your body. Do not neglect the advice of doctors, this way you will reduce pain and recover faster. To do this you should:
- reduce activity and physical activity, get more rest;
- consume more calcium during and after pregnancy;
- normalize your diet, paying attention to healthy foods, foods high in calcium and sufficient amounts of clean drinking water.
Within a week after giving birth, and then every six months, visit your gynecologist. Move more - this will not only help you return to your “pre-pregnancy” weight, but will also get rid of many problems with the pelvic bones and internal organs.
Causes of pain
There is no need to worry if the duration of pain in the tailbone area is about 2-3 weeks. This condition is physiological, because During pregnancy and before childbirth, the pelvic bones diverge, giving the baby the opportunity to be born independently. Therefore, pain at first is a consequence of the unusual location of the bones; over time, the bones return to their original position and such complaints quickly pass. In this regard, pain in the tailbone may also bother those mothers who have undergone surgical delivery.
There are cases when pain in the tailbone after the birth of a child is a consequence of rapid labor. In this case, the reason is the subluxation of the coccygeal vertebrae due to the lack of preparation of the tissues of the birth canal for the birth of a child.
The presence of scoliosis can also cause similar complaints. Indeed, often, minor curvatures of the spine go unnoticed and are not treated in a timely manner, but manifest themselves during pregnancy and after childbirth.
Another cause of pain in the coccyx area may be a spinal injury received before pregnancy, or the presence of diseases of the internal organs, accompanied by pinching of the nerves localized in the coccyx area. In this case, the pain will be of the same intensity, but will begin to bother you even before birth.
Various pathologies of the genitourinary system, neuralgic conditions, inflammation of the joints, hemorrhoids, injuries to the muscles of the perineum and pelvic floor as a result of childbirth can also be causes of pain in the coccyx area.
An osteopath, after a thorough examination of the whole body, will be able to answer the question of why pain in the tailbone bothers you after childbirth.
