A tailbone is a triangular-shaped bone located at the bottom of the spine and right above your buttocks. It consists of three to five semi-fused bones. It helps in stabilizing one’s back when seated. Prolonged seating in one position and a fall can cause tailbone pain. Also, pregnant women can experience this pain during the third tri-semester as the fetus grows. Are you wondering how to relieve tailbone pain? Numerous documented methods can be used as Tailbone pain relief. However, this article capitalizes on the seven most effective tips for tailbone pain relief.
Preventive Strategies against Tailbone Pain
Can tailbone pain be prevented? There are some tips that one can follow to avoid the development of coccyx pain. Before diving into the tips for coccyx pain treatment, let’s first understand how one can prevent the development of such pains.
∙ Avoid prolonged sitting. Sitting for an extended period in the same posture exerts pressure on your tailbone, resulting in pain development. Instead, if your work involves sitting for a long time, it is recommended to take short breaks in between.
∙ When moving towards a sitting or standing position, it is essential to lean forward thus, alleviating pressure.
∙ Avoid slouching while when sitting. Maintain your head, neck, and pelvis in a straight and neutral line. You can use a donut-shaped pillow or a v-shaped wedge cushion. This strategy relieves pressure on your tailbone, preventing the development of pain.
∙ Avoid activities that might stress your tailbone, like cycling. Exerting pressure on the lower part of your work act as a re-way to the development of tailbone pain.
Seven Tips on How to Relieve Tailbone Pain
While there is no immediate tailbone pain relief method, what should you do if the tailbone hurts? It is essential first to visit a doctor to determine the cause and the extent of the damage. The doctor can perform an X-ray or MRI scan and make a necessary recommendation.
❖▪Use ice or a hot pad.
Apply ice or a hot pad around the tailbone area and gluteal muscles for about ten to fifteen minutes. Do this repeatedly about four times daily to relieve pain and reduce inflammation.
❖▪Visit a physical therapist.
Physical therapy can assist in Coccyx pain treatment. A physical therapist will assist you in exercising, strengthening the stomach and pelvic floor muscles that support the tailbone. The doctor can also use the coccygeal manipulation technique. This technique requires the doctor to insert a gloved finger in your rectum to shift the tailbone back to its position by moving it back and forth.
❖▪Coccyx pain treatment using over-the-counter drugs
Take over-the-counter pain relievers like Ibuprofen for coccyx pain treatment. They will help relieve pain and reduce inflammation. It takes between few weeks can take few weeks to several months. However, if the pain persists, you can seek medical attention.
❖▪Seek medical attention from your doctor
If the pain persists, you can consult a doctor and discuss further treatment options. The doctor can inject a local anesthetic or steroid medicine into the area or use a combination of the two. Your doctor can also recommend an oral antidepressant to ease the pain.
❖▪Exercises and stretches for tailbone pain
Some exercises and stretches have been proven to help relieve the pressure causing tailbone pain. Various yoga postures and stretches can assist in stretching out the muscles and ligaments connected to the tailbone and hence relieving pain. That why most pregnant women attend yoga training to help them stretch their muscles properly.
❖▪Add enough fibers to your diet.
Incorporating enough fibers in your diet will soften the stools making the bowel movements more comfortable while minimizing the risks of constipation. Softening your stool ensures that you do not continue stressing the coccyx by increasing pressure leading to excessive pain.
❖▪Surgery for tailbone pain relief
If other treatments fail, your doctor might recommend surgery. This process is also known as coccygectomy. The process involves the removal of part or whole of the coccyx.
After the surgery, it takes time for the pain to go away. While this might be your last option after all other methods have failed, it is essential to note that surgery does not always work. You are also at risk of being exposed to other health risks like an infection.
It is, therefore, a serious decision that you need to make. It is essential to try all other methods before moving forward with surgery.
What Are the Top Five Recommended Stretches for Tailbone Pain Relief?
Having identified seven tips on relieving tailbone pain, let’s examine one of the tips in detail. Are you wondering what the stretches that can help to relieve tailbone pain are? Below are five recommended stretches that you can adopt to facilitate tailbone pain relief.
⮚▪Bow pose
Bow Pose is a gentle backbend that not only stretches the muscles but strengthens the muscles and tendons around the coccyx. It is a great stretch for beginners as the strength required reduces crushing the lumbar spine, a common risk with backbends.
⮚▪Triangle pose
This type of stretch strengthens your legs, assist in stabilizing the spine and tailbone while at the same time opening the hips. It also stretches the hamstrings. As such, it has the same benefits as a side angle pose.
⮚▪Sunbird Pose
It involves simple but powerful movements that help strengthen your back muscles while at the same time stabilizing the spine and tailbone
⮚▪Side Angle pose
The side angle pose is a stretch that helps in lengthening the side of the body while strengthening your legs. As a result, the entire spine is activated, adding more strength to the tailbone and spine at large.
⮚▪Child’s pose
This is a gentle testing pose that gently stretches the entire spine with a primary focus on the lower back and tailbone area. A child’s pose is a stretching position that assists in the restoration of the nervous system and provides a safe environment for the body to rejuvenate. It is a great pose not only for tailbone treatment but also promotes mental rest or stress reliever.
Also, Read @ NY Laser Therapy
While all these stretches can help relieve tailbone pain, it is essential to avoid extensive and strenuous exercise that could cause further injuries rather than healing. The stretching should be practiced in conjunction with other strategies like taking over-the-counter and healthy eating by incorporating enough fibers into your diet. While surgery is one of the coccyx pain treatments, let it be your last option after all other strategies have failed as it is associated with possible development of health complications like infections. The best way to deal with tailbone pain is to prevent it from ever occurring by adopting a healthy sitting position and eating a diet rich in fibers, among others.