Why You Have Tailbone Pain during Pregnancy

Tailbone pain during pregnancy is VERY common. It typically comes on during the third trimester; it can also can linger postpartum. There are a few things at play when it comes to WHY you are feeling that pain in your rear! You may have noticed changes in your posture and walking are big contributors. However pregnancy posture and the wonky walking isn't always controllable. What you can focus on - stretching the tight and weak muscles at play & exploring pelvic mobility exercises to relief your tailbone pain during pregnancy.

Tailbone pain during pregnancy is often caused by tightness in the piriformis muscle and sacrotuberous ligament tension or laxity. You will notice many of these stretches target these specific soft tissue structures to help relief your tailbone pain.

How well your sacrum is moving with your pelvic bones is another key component to relieving tailbone pain, especially during pregnancy. See a prenatal chiropractic specialist to make sure everything is moving how it should! Then practice keeping your pelvic mobile with our techniques. 

Top Tailbone Pain Exercises & Stretches

What you'll need:

• An Exercise Ball
• Therapy Ball // Tennis Ball // Lacrosse Ball [or similar]
• Optional : Wedge Pillow ; Boppy Pillow

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Pelvic Mobility & Stabilization on a Ball

Use your exercise ball to keep your pelvis mobile. With this technique, you can explore your pelvic mobility. Focus on movements that feel more restricted that others. Keeping your hands on your hips or extended outward can be good cue to keep your upper body still. Try moving your pelvis side to side, front to back, and in a figure 8.

Try using your ball for pelvic mobility throughout the day! You can rotate between a ball and your desk chair. We also recommend using it in the evenings, to help things relax after long days & for women who aren't working desk jobs! 

Sit Backs with a Ball

With this stretch, you will be on your knees, using your exercise ball to support your upper body. As you sit back into your pelvis, you will feel a nice stretch in your glutes which will relief pressure off the tailbone. 

Hip Flexor Stretch

The front side and back side of the pelvic are connected. So even when we are talking tailbone pain on the back side, we still want to show some love to our hip flexors in the front. A kneeling hip flexor stretch feels incredible, and allows you to get more rotation with the stretch. If this doesn't work for you, try one of our other hip flexor stretches.  

 Z Sit for Pelvic Mobility

While doing a z-sit you'll find not only a stretch in the tail bone region, but you will also target the hip sockets and hip flexor. Using two feet to get on the ground, think "crouch and curl", you'll draw your legs into a 90/90 position. As you lean forward, you'll find opening and relief in the tailbone region. Once you lean back, that is where you'll find lengthening in the hip flexor, similar to the one above. To transition, you'll swing your legs around like a rainbow arch to create mobility in the hip and SI joints on both sides. 

Piriformis Stretch with Wall Support

This stretch is targeting the same problem muscle, the piriformis. But with this stretch here we are using the wall for support. Typically, you get a deeper tailbone stretch in this position so be mindful and go slow. The trick is to position yourself upright against the wall. You can increase the intensity of this stretch by bending the bottom leg and lifting the top knee towards your chest. 

Seated Piriformis Stretch

Similar to the stretch above, we are targeting the piriformis, just from the chair rather than the floor! Depending on what trimester you are in, you may find one variation to be more effective than the other. As you pull your knee towards you chest, you'll begin to feel the stretch along your glute. In order to get deeper, you will want to look over the same side shoulder and put a slight arch in your back. To increase the intensity, draw your knee closer to your chest. 

Tennis Ball Tailbone Stretch

Tailbone pain during pregnancy can also be targeted with a manual release technique. In the office, we use warm stones. At home, you can utilize a therapy ball, tennis ball, lacrosse ball, or something similar to help release muscle tension near the tailbone.

Squats for Tailbone Pain

When we are talking musculoskeletal pain during pregnancy, finding strength with exercises is just as important as finding length. A simple and effective strength exercise for tailbone pain is a squat. There are a lot of squat variations out there but we recommend two specifically for tailbone pain during pregnancy.

1. Knee Press Out in a Squat

2. Supported Deep Squat

How Can I Keep Tailbone Pain Away?

You have done the stretches and cycled through the exercises, but now you want to have something to keep the pain away [ or at least at bay! ] This is where we love to add in an SI Belt. This is not a belly band, this a support belt that gives you pelvis a low hug to give you the support from beneath belly. Adding a band to your daily activities will allow the tailbone and surrounding musculature to take a "break" from doing all the work while creating stability in your pelvis.  

BONUS : Sitting Tip for Tailbone Pain During Pregnancy!

Sitting on the floor? Many mamas will find themselves on the ground playing with kids, doing laundry, or all of the above! Sitting in a 'cross-cross' position will place direct pressure on the tailbone. A better option is to practice a 'Z-sit' or a 'side-sitting' position. Switch between sides to relief tailbone pain during pregnacy and increase mobility in the hips and pelvis.

If the side-sitting is uncomfortable, try sitting on a Boppy pillow, or donut! Try this inflatable donut or our favorite donut pillow.

For More Tailbone Pain Relief 

Tailbone pain can be bothersome and feel never-ending, but it doesn't need to be! We have put our go-to stretches and exercises on this blog; but for a comprehensive lineup, head over to our YouTube channel or click the picture below.

⬆️ Playlist Updated Regularly ⬆️