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Starting yesterday, my tailbone starting hurting. Even when I sit, I get a dull pain there. When I tigthen the glutes..pain (somewhat sharper). When I press on the bottom part of the tailbone...yep, there it is...the pain. It almost feels like I fell hard on it, but I don't remember doing that (maybe playing with the kids? I would've recalled the hard fall though, I think).
This seems to be a worsening of one of the chronic conditions I had but never got aroound to asking you about. In the past, I've had a pain very near to this area (maybe even the same) when I ran. It used to be only when I sprinted very hard, then it became worse to where it happened when I sprinted at all, and then it started even when I ran fast. It would always go away pretty much 10-30 minutes after the activity, but in the interim, I would be walking funny. Anyway, it isn't overuse, because I had it before and after I broke my heel last year...I took off about 6 months from any kind of running in that period, and it still reappeared like it didn't miss a beat when I started up again.
In this case, I haven't run in months, and the pain is bad enough that I am about to pop an NSAID (something I don't do lightly). Any suggestions? Sciatica? That is what it seems to be. I've never had any back problems whatsoever (knock on wood). I did a spinning (indoor bike) class yesterday and while it iniitally hurt when I sat down, the endorphins kicked in after about 5 mins and I didn't feel it anymore. Today I am not worse for wear, but not better either.
Getting older sucks. I fully expect stuff to start falling off soon.
Does it hurt to squat? Going from anterior to posterior tilt? Does it feel central or are any symptoms one-sided?
My first thought is some sort of Sacroiliac issue or a sacrotuberous ligament injury. This ligament runs from the sacrum to your ischial tuberosity (you're sitting on it).
If you don't have any leg pain associated with it, sciatica is out.
Try this...sit with your hand under your ischial tub. and palpate in a medial direction toward the point of your tailbone and see if it reproduces any symptoms.
It hurts to squat because I am using the glutes and tightening them...I can do the same while I am sitting and have the same amount of pain (i.e. the squat itself doesn't produce the symptoms, but the tightening of the glutes seems to).
Anterior to posterior? Is that tilting towards the back? Not much pain, if any.
It is on the tailbone, but is towards the left side, as it was with the running discomfort.
Pushing in that general area doesn't hurt, but it starts to hurt as I get to the tailbone itself. The farther 'up and inward' into the tailbone I push, the more it hurts (i.e. it doesn't hurt at all when I push on the part that is on the back, but does hurt when I push on the part that is in my 'innards'. No pain when pushing on the glutes.
This is going to sound crude, but does it hurt when you contract the muscles you use when you're sitting on the toilet doing number 2, particularly the maneuver that keeps things from coming out? You can do the maneuver even when not on the toilet.
I had what sounds like the same problem a few months ago from some new squatting technique I was trying. No fall, no trauma. It was probably one of the ligaments down there. The pain went away on its own--though I couldn't sit properly for a few weeks. Didn't squat or deadlift during that time. Couldn't cycle either. But now that it's gone, I haven't had any problems since. Nothing much to do about it, especially if it's a ligament strain/sprain other than rest to allow the damage to heal. But you might not have what I had.
The kegels (I'm having a brain farty kind of day) don't put pressure on the ligament so much as they cause it to stretch (which results in pain, nonetheless).
I've had numerous industrial patients with sacrotuberous ligament sprains associated with deep squatting that resolved rather quickly with ART. The release is a tad "personal" but (butt?) it is quite effective. The active movement portion is a simple knee to chest stretch.
Try using a single knee to chest but maintain your lumbar lordosis throughout the stretch. You'll get some stretch on the proximal hamstrings which have some common fibers with the sacrotuberous ligament. Work on 30 second low tension static holds every hour or so and see if it helps.
Bill, tried the stretch once and it seems to have helped a bit (or maybe I am imagining?). Hard to say though. Will keep trying every hour. Could you clarify for a layman...I lie down on my back, keeping lower back on the ground (?) and bring my knee to my chest while keeping other leg on the ground...is that correct? While I do the stretch, I don't feel any stretch (or pain) in that area or in the hamstrings (unless I straighten the leg out).
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