Bruised Tail Bone or... ?

[jeslynn]

My son's birth did not happen at all how I had planned. I felt like I lost control completely and it was traumatizing. I ended up having 3 huge tears and a lot of pain when I stood up or sat down. At first I thought that that was normal. I told my OB and she didn't really care and gave me a donut pillow to sit on. Didn't help like I had hoped. For a year I had problems standing and sitting down. It was horrible. I eventually did some research and thought I might have had my tailbone bruised. But lately I've been wondering if an epidural could have caused me that much pain or not. Has anyone else heard about something similar? The pain was in the tailbone area and it was just excruciating. I usually had to hold on to my husband to stand up because I had to stand quickly or the pain was much worse.

[Thrifty917]

Originally Posted by Crrrunchberrie

My son's birth did not happen at all how I had planned. I felt like I lost control completely and it was traumatizing. I ended up having 3 huge tears and a lot of pain when I stood up or sat down. At first I thought that that was normal. I told my OB and she didn't really care and gave me a donut pillow to sit on. Didn't help like I had hoped. For a year I had problems standing and sitting down. It was horrible. I eventually did some research and thought I might have had my tailbone bruised. But lately I've been wondering if an epidural could have caused me that much pain or not. Has anyone else heard about something similar? The pain was in the tailbone area and it was just excruciating. I usually had to hold on to my husband to stand up because I had to stand quickly or the pain was much worse.

Never once in my life did I have back/tailbone pain until I had an epidural. Ever since then, if I sit on a hard surface like a floor or something I get horrible shooting pains in my lower back/tailbone area. I think the epidural probably had a lot to do with it, and I will not be getting an epidural ever again!

[jeslynn]

Oh Jessica. I am SO sorry you have to deal with that. It is HORRIBLY painful But thank you for sharing. Maybe it really was the epidural. Gah!

[Thrifty917]

Originally Posted by Crrrunchberrie

Oh Jessica. I am SO sorry you have to deal with that. It is HORRIBLY painful But thank you for sharing. Maybe it really was the epidural. Gah!

I did a google search and came up with numerous forums and threads of people all saying the same exact thing. Its more common than you think! And often seems to last for 1 or 2 years. Its not as bad as it used to be, so hopefully its not permanent. I read something about it, that it might be inflamed tissue from the epidural and it goes away on its own after a while...

[Christine4kiddos]

For what it is worth, I had the same exact symptoms after my homebirth. My tailbone actually BROKE! I had to have a dynamic sit/stand xray to prove I wasn't crazy... but there it was! The dang thing actually broke off my sacrum and was just hanging in there wreaking havoc, causing pain, etc. If you go to coccyx.org, you will find many stories and ways to diagnose a broken tailbone. Good luck... I know how bad the pain is.

PS Got the nasty thing removed when my daughter was 2 1/2... best thing I ever did!!!!

[Mama2mc]

The first two days I hurt so much that my OB thought I had fractured my tailbone, fortunately that wasn't the case, she also check for any hematomas, but couldn't find anything.The worst pain was during the first week, after about a month it stopped hurting.

[aphel]

Hi! I had similar issues after giving birth without an epidural (trouble sitting and terrible pain when I tried to stand). I'm pretty sure my coccyx didn't actually break, but I was in significant enough pain that I had to something. My MW suggested that I might have pelvic floor support issues, apparently that can wreak havoc on the sacrum/coccyx area. I ended up seeing a physical therapist who specializes in the pelvic floor, and I'm happy to say that after a month of therapy, I'm starting to notice an improvement.

Maybe something to explore?

[gradstudentmommy]

Ouch. Sorry you had so much pain for so long. I had a ton of tailbone pain after my last birth (unmedicated vaginal). My midwives thought I had bruised it or broken it. But it's fine now (2 months post partum) so I'm sure it wasn't broken.

I had no tail bone pain after my first birth, when I had an epidural.

It could have been the epidural or you could have just injured your tailbone during the birth, which I understand is really common. My sister in law injured her tail bone a year ago and it still hurts.