3 Exercises for Tailbone Pain

3 Exercises to help with Tailbone pain.

The tailbone, also known as the coccyx bone is a small triangular shaped bone that is attached to your sacrum, the bone between your pelvis and below your lower back.

                            

People develop tailbone pain for a number of different reasons such as, falling on the tailbone, injuring the tailbone during birth, losing mobility in the tailbone or developing muscle tension that pulls on the tailbone.

Knowing what specifically is happening with your tailbone it is always advised to a tailored plan. So make sure to get an assessment with a trained professional, such as a pelvic floor physiotherapist.

Here are 3 exercises you may find helpful for relieving discomfort in your tailbone.

1.  Sacral Ligament stretch exercise

In this first exercise you will be laying down on your back. Legs straight out. Start with your right leg by pulling your knee inward towards your chest and lining up your knee with your right shoulder. Holding there for 30 seconds and taking nice long deep breaths into the stretch. Then you will bring your right knee over towards the left so that your knee lines up with the middle of your chest. Hold 30 seconds and breathe deeply into the stretch. Then finally bringing your right knee over to line up as closely as comfortable with your left shoulder. Holding 30 seconds and breathing deeply. Then straighten out your right leg and repeat with your left leg.

2.  Cat/Dog

In this second exercise you will be on your hands and knees, preferably on a yoga mat or something cushioned. You will move your spine into a hammock like position where you arch your back, stick your buttock out and look up with your head. This is the dog position. Then you will gently move into the cat position where you will round your back, look down with your head and tuck your buttock under. You will move back and forth gentle between these 2 positions, 3 sets of 10 repetitions. Once you are more familiar with the movement we can add breathing into the exercise, where you inhale going into the dog position and exhale going into the cat position.

3.  Child pose

Kneel down on a yoga mat and open the knees slightly to create a V shape. Place both your hands in front of your body and gently slide your hands forward so that your back begins to bend as your chest comes closer to the floor. Once in the child pose position I want you take a nice slow inhale through your nose and imagine you are pulling the air all the way down to the pelvic floor and relaxing the muscles around the tailbone. Then exhale slowly through the mouth as your try to stretch further into the position. Repeat for 10 breaths.

Video Link to these exercises: 

The Pelvic Health Lady