Persistent tailbone pain after childbirth… but the cause lay higher up.
A 35-year-old woman with persistent tailbone complaints following childbirth was referred to me by a pelvic physiotherapist.
She had recently undergone a complex delivery, which resulted in severe tailbone pain radiating to the right groin and upper leg. This hindered her both in her work and during exercise.
Notably, her pelvic complaints had already started around the 10th week of pregnancy. Additionally, she had suffered from neck and back complaints for years, for which she visited a massage therapist every two weeks.
During the examination, however, my attention was drawn to a different structure. At the level of the skull base, I felt a clear increase in tension in the dura mater (the tough outermost membrane of the brain). The dura mater has an anatomical connection to both the skull base and the tailbone.
Upon inquiry, it turned out that at the age of 16, she had received a significant blow to the head from her horse. Episode 20 of our podcast Osteo Talkings is not titled ‘Be careful with horses’ for nothing.
After the first treatment, she reacted with two days of severe headache, followed by a clear decrease in tailbone pain.
In the subsequent sessions, I treated the diaphragm. During the delivery, forceful pressure had been applied to her abdomen to stimulate the process, which may have caused additional tension. After a short but intense reaction with a temporary increase in recognizable tailbone pain, the complaints largely disappeared. In total, I treated her five times over a period of four months.
Once this dysfunction is resolved, the improvement usually lasts. In principle, maintenance treatments are then unnecessary. Unfortunately, during a winter sports holiday, she suffered a heavy fall on the back of her head, after which the tailbone pain quickly returned. Fortunately, she responded well to treatment again. Hopefully, she will have a bit more luck from now on…
A great example of how collaboration with a pelvic physiotherapist and looking further into underlying causes can sometimes reveal unexpected connections.
