Coccygectomy and Pregnancy
Coccygectomy and pregnancy – it seems that these two things will be forever intertwined. Have you been suffering from severe coccyx pain after a natural vaginal childbirth and aren’t sure what to do? I will tell you about our experiences and then you can make some judgement calls as it pertains to your own unique situation with regards to a coccygectomy and pregnancy.
My wife had a pre-existing tailbone condition before we decided to move forward with her pregnancy. She knew that delivering the baby naturally could be a potential issue and we made our doctor aware of her concerns. Our concerns went unheaded and during the birth of our first child, my wife’s coccyx broke. We didn’t know what happened at the time other than my wife knew that something was definitely not right. Weeks turned into months and my wife was still in terrible pain in her coccyx area. We went to the doctor and told him how much pain my wife was in. He suggested that this was pretty normal after child-birth and it should eventually go away.
After two and half years of excruciating pain, unable to sit or stand for more than five minutes at a time and being more or less bed-ridden, I finally diagnosed her with coccydynia. After additional diagnosis from medical professionals, it was confirmed that she was a perfect candidate for a coccygectomy.
Here is what I learned from having a coccygectomy and pregnancy:
- The woman knows her body better than anyone – this includes her doctor. Listen to your body and if you think there is anything going wrong or doesn’t seem right, go and see you doctor.
- Don’t take ‘no’ for an answer. If one doctor tells you it’s in your head, go and get a second opinion.
- I would obviously never recommend getting a coccygectomy while pregnant… that’s just crazy talk 🙂
- Once you’ve had a coccygectomy and are considering pregnancy, one can still have more children – we did. As we knew what to expect the second time around, we insisted on having a c-section birth. They listened this time. 🙂
Do you have a coccygectomy and pregnancy story? Why not leave a note and perhaps your experience could help someone else out. Our story is much more involved and would take up more space here, so I just gave you a brief snapshot of what we dealt with. We also had to deal with other chronic health issues (fibromyalgia, lupus, heart problems…), so our experience may be different than yours.
My son dislocated my tailbone during childbirth but I had no symptoms for 2 days. The day I came home from the hospital, I took a nap, and when I awoke, my legs were shaking on their own. I also had a strange “humming” sensation in my feet, with my left foot being “louder” than my right. I thought it was from the epideural, but the anathesiologist insisted that any complication from epideural happens immediately after the placement of the needle and not days later (other than the spinal headache). The doctors told me the same thing. It was extreme sciatica from childbirth and would go away after about 4 weeks. Well, it didn’t. In fact my symptoms got a little better and then way worse and changed over time. My sacrum would get a strange sensation, almost like a toothache and kind of itchy pain, and would swell. Then my legs would be weak and finally I had the most excrutiating burning, burning, burning pain that would go through my glutes, hips, and even rectum. It got to where I couldn’t sleep at night due to the pain and nothing seemed to help except taking some ibuprofen. I ended up in the hospital where they told me it was all in my head. I finally went to a doctor at Ortho Indy and he said I need an injection in my tailbone because it was “hooked” and my son dislocated it during delivery. So a neuroradiologist at CDI in Indianapolis put steroid injections in the first two joints of my tailbone and it made a WORLD of difference. My tailbone still pops all the time and causes lots of low back and “butt” pain when I sit too long. It is very disabling having this condition and I am seriously considering having it removed. My only question is how many people get relief from the removal and how many end up with the same or more problems afterward? Thanks!
Melissa,
I’m very sorry to hear of your suffering. I can assure you that it’s not in your head and don’t give up. I just wrote an article about getting a dynamic x-ray to ensure that the pain you are experiencing is in fact very real. Firstly, don’t stop until you get a doctor who supports you. Secondly, get the dynamic xray and then from there perhaps a coccygectomy may be an option. I’m not a doctor at all, but we’ve been through many of the things you’ve outlined. With a coccygectomy there is always the fear of “what if it gets worse?” Well, to that I can only say if the pain is strong enough you won’t even care. That’s the point my wife got to and we had the surgery. It has been almost 10 years and we are happy we did it. Is she 100% perfect? No, but she’s a heck of a lot better and has a better quality of life. I encourage you not to give up and keep fighting and pressing forward. Blessings, my friend…
My tail broke when I gave birth to our daughter in 2009 my partner and I both heard and I said to the doctors straight away something wasn’t right but was told it was normal when giving birth to experience pain in that region. A few days later and while in hospital still I kept bringing it up and where on a number of painkillers I would be told it would heal in 6 -8 weeks this came and went and after a year of pain and once i had moved back to new zealand I saw a specialist where he injected the tailbone this gave me abit of a break for 4 weeks but the pain came back. 6 months later I had a coccygectomy I wouldn’t say that I’m pain free but 95% better than what I was. I am now 5 months pregnant with our second child have been experiencing lower back pain since 5weeks I’m seeing a physio and this making things a bit better. She has suggested a C Section and we are considering this do you think this saved your wifes back and was how was the recovery. What is left at end from the Coggygectomy is starting to feel it pop if I sit on it the wrong way. I’m getting a little nervous about the birth but thinking that the C Section is going to be the best option.
Marlys,
This is almost our experience exactly… well, except we didn’t move to New Zealand. We did have a C-section with our second child and it was totally fine. Things aren’t 100% pain free, but they definitely a lot better than before the coccygectomy. Thanks for your story.
Jim
Coccygectomy.org
Update: I still have my injured tailbone and am now approximately 5 weeks pregnant. I started having pain and a swollen sacral area (which I learned is the ligaments across the SI joints pulling from the coccyx being out of alignment) 4 days ago that is so extreme at night that I cannot sleep. We are going to see an orthopedic dr next week but he already told me he will not be able to do much if anything since I am pregnant. Word of advice: 1. Get an xray of your tailbone before your first pregnancy. If it curves upward toward your rectum, demand a csection! 2. Don’t have a 2nd pregnancy if you have a previous tailbone injury until you have it removed and have recovered for a couple of years. A helpful website http://www.coccyx.org
Does anyone know if my tailbone pain will subside, remain the same, or get worse as my pregnancy progresses?
Another question: Did your wife have tailbone or sacral pain during the pregnancy after her tailbone removal? How long after the removal did you wait to get pregnant?
Hi Melissa,
My wife had a previous tailbone injury as a child which was a concern enough to her to alert the doctors before delivery. Our warnings were ignored, thus the broken coccyx. Even after the delivery, the doctors said ‘Oh, every woman has this pain… it will go away.’ After 6 months of it not going away and my wife unable to function, I finally pushed and pushed and diagnosed my wife’s condition on my own. 2.5 years after the birth of our fist son, the doctors finally capitulated and agreed that she had coccydynia. So, to more accurately answer your question, to my knowledge there wasn’t any extraordinary pain during pregnancy.
After the coccygectomy we waited about 2 years before getting pregnant again. The second delivery was a C-section and we were treated like royalty because of the issues with the first delivery and my wife’s other numerous chronic health issues. Our two boys are 5 years apart.
Did that answer your question?
Did she have Sacroiliac issues too? Did she ever try prolotherapy for any of her pain?
Hi Melissa,
We did a prolotherapy consult but decided not to go through with it. In our discoveries, I believe I came to the conclusion after the x-rays that the coccyx was actually broken and prolotherapy was simply not addressing the actual issue – a broken bone.
Hello,
I had a coccygectomy 7 years ago after discovering that my coccyx was cracked , loose and twisting around causing the most horrific pain. It took six months of various specialists to discover this. The last surgeon I saw actually just stuck his finger up and felt the looks coccyx.
I had my first baby by c – section almost three years ago. The c- section was by recommendation of my Gynaecologist. He was concerned that my baby’s projected size and weight might damage and put pressure on the area if I had natural birth. I am 7 months pregnant and really want a natural birth. Here in South Africa c-sections are really common and gyneacologists are seen as wanting to just get the birth over and done with.
I’m torn between thinking that my previous gynae just wanted to get the birth over and done with it if there really was a real concern for my back.
Should I consult with the surgeon who did the coccygectomy ? Or do you think c- section is my only option?