u/AnyLife1217

​

I’m honestly emotional writing this post. If my experience helps even one person, it will mean a lot to me.

Please forgive the long post, but I don’t want to leave out any details that could matter.

About two months ago, I was trying to stretch and massage my glutes using a cork roller. I made the mistake of sitting directly on the roller with my tailbone. My coccyx already sticks out a little naturally. I had put pressure on it before without issues, but this time something went wrong and it triggered horrible pain and discomfort that stayed with me for weeks.

As background information: I suffer from chronic pelvic pain because of a bladder condition, but it had never affected my tailbone before.

Three years ago, I had mild coccyx pain that was resolved with a manual internal traction performed rectally by a specialized doctor.

But this time was different.

The pain gradually became worse and worse. Sitting became difficult unless I curved my back or leaned onto one glute. Even doing a simple Kegel-type contraction hurt. Bending down, leaning forward, turning in bed… everything hurt. I couldn’t even lie on my back comfortably.

My physiotherapist performed manual traction again, but it didn’t solve the problem. I became obsessed with touching the area, using a TENS machine, constantly checking the pain… and honestly, I think all of that made it worse.

I also tried all the coccyx pain stretches I found on YouTube, but nothing improved.

Then things became even harder because in April I had breast implant removal surgery with a breast lift/reduction. Recovery required me to stay sitting and lying on my back for long periods — exactly the positions that aggravated my tailbone pain.

I remember lying on the operating table before surgery, unable to stay still because of the coccyx pain. The surgery lasted almost 6 hours, and when I woke up, my tailbone hurt badly.

The following days were a nightmare. I was recovering from major surgery while the only part of my body I could lean on was already inflamed and painful. I couldn’t push with my arms properly, and my glutes and pelvic area weren’t helping either. Sleeping was horrible. I had to sleep on my back with pillows behind me, but that increased pressure on the coccyx. I tried turning partially onto my side from the waist down. Honestly, it was awful. I wouldn’t wish that kind of post-op recovery on anyone.

Two weeks after surgery, I started taking 50 mg diclofenac once every night for about 5–6 days. It reduced the coccyx pain by about 90%, but I knew it wasn’t a good long-term solution. As soon as I stopped taking it, the pain returned.

Mentally, I was becoming desperate. I searched forums constantly and only found stories from people who had suffered for months or even years. Some never improved.

At one point, I read a comment from someone saying they improved by lying face down and making a movement “like wagging a tail.” Obviously humans don’t have tails, but they meant activating those muscles as if you did.

During all this time, I was also constantly talking to ChatGPT looking for reassurance and trying to understand what was happening.

At some point, the pain stopped feeling like it was only in the bone itself. It felt more like the muscles and tissues around it. Even turning in bed hurt.

I’m attaching images showing exactly where I felt the pain most intensely. And every time I touched the area too much or sat directly on it for too long, the pain flared up again.

Now comes the important part.

I got tired of feeling hopeless. I thought: “I do NOT want this becoming chronic and disabling.” So I decided to experiment with something.

And surprisingly… it worked.

Day by day, it started pulling me out of that pain and disability.

I’ll try to explain it as clearly as possible.

While sitting in the car, with my feet firmly touching the floor, I leaned slightly forward and started doing a strong pelvic floor contraction — not just like stopping urine, but more like tightening your anus as if trying not to pass gas.

At first, the contraction triggered pain in the coccyx area. But if I kept contracting harder and harder, the pain actually started decreasing.

The goal was to hold that strong contraction for about 20 seconds.

After that, I did the opposite movement: pushing downward gently, like the motion of trying to have a bowel movement.

When I discussed my symptoms with ChatGPT, it suggested that the issue sounded muscular and related to inflammation or irritation around the pelvic floor muscle insertions near the coccyx.

And honestly, that explanation makes sense to me.

I believe these contractions and release movements were gradually stretching and relaxing those irritated muscles and attachments.

The key for me was:

Doing this 3–4 times in the morning and again in the afternoon/evening

Stopping myself from constantly touching the area

Avoiding direct pressure on the coccyx even when I started improving

Whenever I sat down and felt that familiar pulling pain while leaning forward or backward, I would do the strong 20-second contraction again, then relax and gently push downward afterward.

It sounds crazy, I know.

But this random discovery got me out of what I truly believed would become a chronic nightmare.

I really hope this helps someone else heal and get back to feeling 100% again.

Also: Walk as much as you can, and pay attention to posture even when you start feeling better.

Thank you for reading, and I sincerely hope this helps someone.

I’m honestly emotional writing this post. If my experience helps even one person, it will mean a lot to me.

Please forgive the long post, but I don’t want to leave out any details that could matter.

About two months ago, I was trying to stretch and massage my glutes using a cork roller. I made the mistake of sitting directly on the roller with my tailbone. My coccyx already sticks out a little naturally. I had put pressure on it before without issues, but this time something went wrong and it triggered horrible pain and discomfort that stayed with me for weeks.

As background information: I suffer from chronic pelvic pain because of a bladder condition, but it had never affected my tailbone before.

Three years ago, I had mild coccyx pain that was resolved with a manual internal traction performed rectally by a specialized doctor.

But this time was different.

The pain gradually became worse and worse. Sitting became difficult unless I curved my back or leaned onto one glute. Even doing a simple Kegel-type contraction hurt. Bending down, leaning forward, turning in bed… everything hurt. I couldn’t even lie on my back comfortably.

My physiotherapist performed manual traction again, but it didn’t solve the problem. I became obsessed with touching the area, using a TENS machine, constantly checking the pain… and honestly, I think all of that made it worse.

I also tried all the coccyx pain stretches I found on YouTube, but nothing improved.

Then things became even harder because in April I had breast implant removal surgery with a breast lift/reduction. Recovery required me to stay sitting and lying on my back for long periods — exactly the positions that aggravated my tailbone pain.

I remember lying on the operating table before surgery, unable to stay still because of the coccyx pain. The surgery lasted almost 6 hours, and when I woke up, my tailbone hurt badly.

The following days were a nightmare. I was recovering from major surgery while the only part of my body I could lean on was already inflamed and painful. I couldn’t push with my arms properly, and my glutes and pelvic area weren’t helping either. Sleeping was horrible. I had to sleep on my back with pillows behind me, but that increased pressure on the coccyx. I tried turning partially onto my side from the waist down. Honestly, it was awful. I wouldn’t wish that kind of post-op recovery on anyone.

Two weeks after surgery, I started taking 50 mg diclofenac once every night for about 5–6 days. It reduced the coccyx pain by about 90%, but I knew it wasn’t a good long-term solution. As soon as I stopped taking it, the pain returned.

Mentally, I was becoming desperate. I searched forums constantly and only found stories from people who had suffered for months or even years. Some never improved.

At one point, I read a comment from someone saying they improved by lying face down and making a movement “like wagging a tail.” Obviously humans don’t have tails, but they meant activating those muscles as if you did.

During all this time, I was also constantly talking to ChatGPT looking for reassurance and trying to understand what was happening.

At some point, the pain stopped feeling like it was only in the bone itself. It felt more like the muscles and tissues around it. Even turning in bed hurt.

I’m attaching images showing exactly where I felt the pain most intensely. And every time I touched the area too much or sat directly on it for too long, the pain flared up again.

Now comes the important part.

I got tired of feeling hopeless. I thought: “I do NOT want this becoming chronic and disabling.” So I decided to experiment with something.

And surprisingly… it worked.

Day by day, it started pulling me out of that pain and disability.

I’ll try to explain it as clearly as possible.

While sitting in the car, with my feet firmly touching the floor, I leaned slightly forward and started doing a strong pelvic floor contraction — not just like stopping urine, but more like tightening your anus as if trying not to pass gas.

At first, the contraction triggered pain in the coccyx area. But if I kept contracting harder and harder, the pain actually started decreasing.

The goal was to hold that strong contraction for about 20 seconds.

After that, I did the opposite movement: pushing downward gently, like the motion of trying to have a bowel movement.

When I discussed my symptoms with ChatGPT, it suggested that the issue sounded muscular and related to inflammation or irritation around the pelvic floor muscle insertions near the coccyx.

And honestly, that explanation makes sense to me.

I believe these contractions and release movements were gradually stretching and relaxing those irritated muscles and attachments.

The key for me was:

Doing this 3–4 times in the morning and again in the afternoon/evening

Stopping myself from constantly touching the area

Avoiding direct pressure on the coccyx even when I started improving

Whenever I sat down and felt that familiar pulling pain while leaning forward or backward, I would do the strong 20-second contraction again, then relax and gently push downward afterward.

It sounds crazy, I know.

But this random discovery got me out of what I truly believed would become a chronic nightmare.

I really hope this helps someone else heal and get back to feeling 100% again.

Also: Walk as much as you can, and pay attention to posture even when you start feeling better.

Thank you for reading, and I sincerely hope this helps someone.

I’m honestly emotional writing this post. If my experience helps even one person, it will mean a lot to me.

Please forgive the long post, but I don’t want to leave out any details that could matter.

About two months ago, I was trying to stretch and massage my glutes using a cork roller. I made the mistake of sitting directly on the roller with my tailbone. My coccyx already sticks out a little naturally. I had put pressure on it before without issues, but this time something went wrong and it triggered horrible pain and discomfort that stayed with me for weeks.

As background information: I suffer from chronic pelvic pain because of a bladder condition, but it had never affected my tailbone before.

Three years ago, I had mild coccyx pain that was resolved with a manual internal traction performed rectally by a specialized doctor.

But this time was different.

The pain gradually became worse and worse. Sitting became difficult unless I curved my back or leaned onto one glute. Even doing a simple Kegel-type contraction hurt. Bending down, leaning forward, turning in bed… everything hurt. I couldn’t even lie on my back comfortably.

My physiotherapist performed manual traction again, but it didn’t solve the problem. I became obsessed with touching the area, using a TENS machine, constantly checking the pain… and honestly, I think all of that made it worse.

I also tried all the coccyx pain stretches I found on YouTube, but nothing improved.

Then things became even harder because in April I had breast implant removal surgery with a breast lift/reduction. Recovery required me to stay sitting and lying on my back for long periods — exactly the positions that aggravated my tailbone pain.

I remember lying on the operating table before surgery, unable to stay still because of the coccyx pain. The surgery lasted almost 6 hours, and when I woke up, my tailbone hurt badly.

The following days were a nightmare. I was recovering from major surgery while the only part of my body I could lean on was already inflamed and painful. I couldn’t push with my arms properly, and my glutes and pelvic area weren’t helping either. Sleeping was horrible. I had to sleep on my back with pillows behind me, but that increased pressure on the coccyx. I tried turning partially onto my side from the waist down. Honestly, it was awful. I wouldn’t wish that kind of post-op recovery on anyone.

Two weeks after surgery, I started taking 50 mg diclofenac once every night for about 5–6 days. It reduced the coccyx pain by about 90%, but I knew it wasn’t a good long-term solution. As soon as I stopped taking it, the pain returned.

Mentally, I was becoming desperate. I searched forums constantly and only found stories from people who had suffered for months or even years. Some never improved.

At one point, I read a comment from someone saying they improved by lying face down and making a movement “like wagging a tail.” Obviously humans don’t have tails, but they meant activating those muscles as if you did.

During all this time, I was also constantly talking to ChatGPT looking for reassurance and trying to understand what was happening.

At some point, the pain stopped feeling like it was only in the bone itself. It felt more like the muscles and tissues around it. Even turning in bed hurt.

I’m attaching images showing exactly where I felt the pain most intensely. And every time I touched the area too much or sat directly on it for too long, the pain flared up again.

Now comes the important part.

I got tired of feeling hopeless. I thought: “I do NOT want this becoming chronic and disabling.” So I decided to experiment with something.

And surprisingly… it worked.

Day by day, it started pulling me out of that pain and disability.

I’ll try to explain it as clearly as possible.

While sitting in the car, with my feet firmly touching the floor, I leaned slightly forward and started doing a strong pelvic floor contraction — not just like stopping urine, but more like tightening your anus as if trying not to pass gas.

At first, the contraction triggered pain in the coccyx area. But if I kept contracting harder and harder, the pain actually started decreasing.

The goal was to hold that strong contraction for about 20 seconds.

After that, I did the opposite movement: pushing downward gently, like the motion of trying to have a bowel movement.

When I discussed my symptoms with ChatGPT, it suggested that the issue sounded muscular and related to inflammation or irritation around the pelvic floor muscle insertions near the coccyx.

And honestly, that explanation makes sense to me.

I believe these contractions and release movements were gradually stretching and relaxing those irritated muscles and attachments.

The key for me was:

Doing this 3–4 times in the morning and again in the afternoon/evening

Stopping myself from constantly touching the area

Avoiding direct pressure on the coccyx even when I started improving

Whenever I sat down and felt that familiar pulling pain while leaning forward or backward, I would do the strong 20-second contraction again, then relax and gently push downward afterward.

It sounds crazy, I know.

But this random discovery got me out of what I truly believed would become a chronic nightmare.

I really hope this helps someone else heal and get back to feeling 100% again.

Also: Walk as much as you can, and pay attention to posture even when you start feeling better.

Thank you for reading, and I sincerely hope this helps someone.

Today marks three weeks post-surgery. (You can see my photos in my post). The thing is, the scar I have under my breasts, which goes almost to my armpit, is really bothering me when I wear a bra. I have to keep putting gauze on it, otherwise it hurts and gets irritated. The size is correct, and I don't even tighten it too much, but it still hurts. Has anyone else experienced this? I've had to cheat and wear sports bras to give it a break... since I don't have implants, and it was a breast lift, maybe that's not the main issue... I don't know. Any advice?