Severe Tailbone Pain During Pregnancy

Sorry you're having such a painful pregnancy. I had major lower back pain with my second baby. I went to a chiropractor who helped me a ton! Good luck - I hope you get some relief.

Sounds like a sciatic nerve issue. I had no problems while I was pregnant, but afterwards I developed such severe pain that I couldn't even move. The pain was on my left and felt like it was actually in my butt cheek. I had to go back in the hospital, had x-rays and CT scans, and none of the doctors could figure out what was going on. Some of the staff thought I had PPD and was "faking it" to stay away from home and avoid being home with my baby (nothing could be further from the truth!), others thought I was just looking for a drug fix (because Dilatid was the only thing that gave me any relief). Finally one resident told me she had done some reading and said it sounded like I had Piriformis Syndrome, one possible cause of sciatic nerve pain. Basically, your piriformis muscle is a short muscle in your butt area that helps with balance. Your sciatic nerve is about the width of your thumb (yeah, it is huge!) and in most people it runs beneath the piriformis muscle. Turns out in a certain percentage of people, the nerve runs THROUGH the muscle and if the muscle spams for any reason, the nerve is trapped in there and causes all the pain. And because the muscle helps with balance, your ability to balance and walk can be thrown off.

The condition is often called "Runner's Nerve" because of lot of runners and other atheletes can be afflicted. The muscle tightens up and spasms from overuse, or my case, it might have been from just be stretched out from the pregnancy (and it's not like I gained too much weight or anything - it just happned). Turns out two of my cousins (brothers, and both runners) have had the same thing, though not as bad. They were able to self-diagnose and do special stretches to help stretch it out. I couldn't even get to that point until I had trigger-point therapy. I would look up Piriformis Syndrome on WebMD, or just google it, and see what you find. You might be able to find some stretching exercises that might help. I would also mention it to your doctor and see if it is something he/she is familar with, and if there is a massage therapist or someone similar they can refer you to.

Good luck, I hope this helps!

Make sure you are wearing proper shoes and not flip flops. I had horrible backpain during my 2nd pregnancy due to flip flops.

Physical therapy can usually help with that sort of thing. It sounds like an SI issue where your pelvic bones are moving too much around your tailbone (because of the extra relaxin). There are exercises a therapist can teach you to help stabilize the area and you may benefit from an SI belt (a physical therapist can also help get you one of these). Most PT clinics have prenatal specialists or even Women's Health specialists. Just tell them the issues you're having (and obviously that you're pregnant) and they should get you set up with the right person. Good luck.

i had something going on with one of the disks right by my tailbone when i was pregnant with my last one, inflamed whatever, it was awful. i had sciatica too, but this was different, i was hobbling around like you said, couldnt straighten up, and i was terrified of how on earth i was gonna get through labor. the chiropractor helped me tremendously, massage/adjusting and that ultrasound thing he did, i was going a few times a week and it really worked. try it, and good luck...

I had this through both my pregnancies and found that massage, acupuncture & chiropractic care helped relieve the pain.

Hope you find some relief

2 suggestions - a pelvic belt to help support everything, and inserts for your shoes. Both are to give you cushioning/support so there is less impact with all your daily activities/movements. Also, there are some exercises that you can do, but I don't know how much those will help (I'd try Googling "pregnancy exercises"). I had issues as well, more at my pubic symphysis, but it's all connected! I'm a physical therapist, and I did all 3 of these things. They helped but did not completely alleviate the problem. Ah, what we go through to have our babies! Good luck.

I'd say go to a chiropractor. I went to one who specialized in prenatal and children's chiropractic during my second pregnancy and it made such a difference. I had tailbone issues after giving birth and again my chiro helped it.

Good luck!

Have your physician refer you to both a chiropractor and, then, a massage therapist, making sure both have experience in dealing with pregnancy-related issues. Your problem could be related to the pregnancy itselt ( enlarged uterus pressing on something) or just to the added weight. Hopefully your insurance will cover it if you are in this much agony. The massage won't hold if you are out of alignment, and the chiropractic won't necessarily relieve the muscle spasms if there is damage that needs to be released. The massage therapist will be able to determine if you need deep tissue muscle work, fascial release, etc.

Good luck - you are right, you cannot go on like this!