Coccyx pain?

• Are you experiencing coccyx pain after a fall or after childbirth?
• Are you experiencing coccyx pain with sitting or rising from a chair?
• Has your coccyx pain been there for some time now and just not resolving?

At Synergy Physio we have expertise in pelvic pain and women’s health and can help you determine what may be causing your pain and how you can improve it.

Fun fact: the word coccyx is derived from the Greek word for the beak of a cuckoo bird!

Despite begin so small, the coccyx bone, which attaches on the bottom of the sacral bone at the base of the spine, has a number of important functions including:

• Being an insertion site for muscles and ligaments
• Provides 1 of the 3 tripod points for weight-bearing in the sitting position

What causes coccyx pain?

• You are 5 times more likely to develop coccyx pain if you are female
• Obesity or rapid weight loss
• Trauma or a fall onto the coccyx bone
• Childbirth especially if it was a difficult delivery or instrumental delivery
• Stiffness or increased movement of the sacrococcygeal joint
• Pelvic floor muscle spasm
• Sitting in poor posture or leaning back onto the coccyx bone, or extended periods of sitting

What can you do to help?

• Decrease the amount you sit is a good place to start if you can. Alternate between sitting and standing positions at work using a Sit to Stand desk, use every opportunity to stand in order to reduce the cumulative load on your coccyx and help it recover!
• When sitting, use a wedge cushion with a cut out for the coccyx to take the pressure off the coccyx bone. This is far better option than the donut shaped cushions!
• Sitting in a neutral spine position with a small lumbar curve to take the pressure off the coccyx bone. Like to learn some quick and easy tips for sitting posture? Watch this video here
• Using ice or heat packs can help with simple pain relief.
• Massage over the muscles on either side of the coccyx bone that might be tense and pulling on the coccyx. A spikey ball, smooth rubber ball or tennis ball can be used against a wall to massage into these muscles gently to help them to relax. Just do not apply pressure onto the coccyx bone!
• Pelvic floor relaxation exercises may help if your pelvic floor muscles are in spasm
• Addressing any dysfunction of the back, hips or pelvis that may be contributing. Having problems in the pelvis, spine, pelvic floor or hips are all common contributors! This often needs professional assessment with a women’s health physio to help you recover.

It is essential that you have an assessment with a physiotherapist who has expertise in pelvic health to help determine why you have developed your symptoms so that an accurate treatment plan can be made that is tailored just to YOU.

Like to know more women’s health and the Synergy Physio team? Learn more about our team here!

Contact our friendly reception team here at Synergy physio on 07 5448 3369. We offer personalised and professional care with our women’s health physiotherapy team.