The Pelvic Chain Behind Tailbone Pain: What Clinicians Need to Know

If you treat postpartum clients with coccyx pain, this episode will change the way you assess – and dramatically improve your outcomes.

Today, Lynn breaks down the often-missed biomechanical and myofascial relationships between the sacrum, coccygeus, and sphincter complex that create a functional tug-of-war on the tailbone. You’ll learn why traditional approaches fall short, the three regions you must evaluate, and how targeted release work restores true pelvic balance.

✨ Episode Highlights:

• The sacrum–sphincter–coccyx “tug-of-war” and why it drives persistent tailbone pain
• How sacral flexion, ischial splay, and sphincter hyperlengthening commonly show up postpartum – and what they mean for mechanics
• Why the coccygeus muscles are key players in coccyx tension
• The impact of sphincter-complex knots on closure, bowel function, and compensatory tailbone strain
• The three assessment zones every clinician should check to dramatically improve coccyx treatment

If you want clearer diagnostics, faster results, and more confident coccyx treatment plans, listen to this informative episode.

Transform Your Tailbone Outcomes: The Sacrum–Sphincter Connection Therapists Need to Know

Have a comment or question about today’s episode? Message Lynn on Instagram or Facebook, or Email Lynn.

If you enjoyed today’s podcast and are interested in more topics to support your clinical practice and treating your clients, find us on your favorite podcast app and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode.

To learn more visit: InstituteforBirthHealing.com

Visit Institute for Birth Healing to learn more about how to care for the pregnant and postpartum body: CLICK HERE

Transcript

Welcome to this episode. And today I want to talk to you more about the coccyx. Now I know I've done another podcast earlier, so you can go check out that one, but something new has popped into my awareness and working with a couple of my My clients in the last couple of weeks and just wanted to share this concept that is coming to me as I'm working on the body.

A lot of times when I have my hands on the tissues or I'm working with different structures, I kind of get these analogies or these insights that, that come to me.

And one just came through on the tailbone. And, um, when we're working on the tailbone, I think in the last podcast, I talked about the coccyx.

So the coccygeus muscles have been the main focus of my treatments when someone's coming in with coccyx pain. We know in childbirth that this tailbone can get a lot of pressure put on it, and some people can fracture them or dislocate them during the childbirth process. Still, today I want to talk about three areas that I really want you all to be assessing to help relieve the tension and pain from the coccyx.

And the first one is the coccygeus muscles. They attach laterally on either side, and we need to make sure that those are nice and balanced.

And we want to release the tissue tension in the coccygeus muscles, and using the Schulte hold is very helpful in helping those tissues to relax.

And remember, I've talked about this in another podcast, if the coccygeus tension is bilateral, and it's the same Same bilateral, then I'm thinking that there's more of the sacrum stuck in flexion.

If there's more tension on one side versus the other side, then I'm thinking that that sacrum is in more of that common birth pattern where the sacrum is off to one side, usually towards the right side is where I find it the most.

You can find it to the left, but I'm just sharing with you the common patterns that are the most common patterns that I find in my practice.

And so the coccygeuses is that lateral mobility side to side that we need to make sure is nice and even for that coccyx to be happy in there, to have good, even mobility.

And we want to keep the tension off of that tailbone so that it can heal in a more relaxed state.

What's coming to me more recently is the second area that we need to really focus in on. time. Is the sacrum and the position of the sacrum.

If the sacrum is stuck in flexion, then that tailbone is at the tip of that sacrum. So it's going to be more posterior.

And we need to understand that at the tip of the tailbone is the caxagel raffi ligament or tissue that attaches then to the sphincter muscle.

And the new concept or the image that came to mind this last couple of weeks is this idea that the tailbone is in a tug of war between the sacrum and the anus because of this raffi, the caxagel raffi.

And in order to take the tension off of the tailbone, we need to first address and get the sacrum out.

That'll take the tension off of this entire system, and then we also need to release any tension that we have in the sphincter muscle as well.

So that's the third. So the first one is coccygeous muscle tension. The second area of focus needs to be releasing sacral flexion, and then the third area needs to be releasing the sphincter complex.

And we use the tailbone. I teach how to release all those in the holistic treatment of the postpartum body course, and I also teach another technique for sacral flexion in the advanced postpartum techniques course, and that one is just taught online.

But there's something that I actually use all the time. I use that every day in that advanced course to correct sacral flexion.

So I really encourage you to check that course out as well. . . . . . In the advanced course, I also go over some advanced nervous system techniques to help calm down the nervous system, too, which can be super, super helpful.

So today, I just wanted to share with you this concept, this idea that sometimes the tailbone is in this, it's in the middle of a tug of war between the sphincter complex and the sacrum.

And we need to address both ends of that to take off the tension from the tailbone. And for those of you who can't visually understand what I'm talking about here, I do have it on video.

If you're listening to this podcast only through audio, you could go check out the YouTube site where I put all the video of the podcast.

And I'm holding up the pelvic model so that you can see how if the sacrum is in flexion, it's going to be pulling the tip of the coccyx backwards more.

for We're going to put tension through the coccygeal raphe on the sphincter complex, and we need to address both the sacral flexion and the sphincter complex to take off the tension of this poor coccyx that is just getting pulled both directions, anterior and posterior, and then we have the coccygeous muscles that are pulling it laterally, and we need to address all directions to help make that tailbone happier.

And also know that you can also have some rotational torsions of the tailbone, or we can have some side bending of the tailbone, and a lot of that can be addressed when we address the tension patterns caused by the open birthing pattern, caused by the bones being stuck in sacral flexion, ischial splay.

Thank And then the anus is this structure that is just kind of floating right in the bottom of the perennial, or bottom of the pelvic floor, and its support structure is the tip of the tailbone via that coccygeal raffi, coccygeal raffi, and nobody is teaching how to address this sphincter complex like how I teach it in the holistic treatment of the postpartum body course.

And it is so effective in letting go of tension in here, and I, if anybody wants to see like the true effects of birth on the sphincter, I invite you to follow Badass Mother Birthing, Mother Birther, Badass Mother Birther, they have videos, they're, they're all sensitive contents because they're showing how babies come on out.

If you, I would watch a person. Birthing on hands and knees and watch as that baby's head comes down through this pelvis and see what happens to that sphincter complex as that baby is coming on out.

It gets, I don't know the times, but you know, 10 times it's normal length that gets really pushed out.

And I have to say, I always find knots in this sphincter complex after birth. And when you watch those videos, you'll see why.

And this structure really needs to be addressed post birth. A lot of comments about, I see comments online in other groups about women who have to constantly wipe, wipe, wipe, wipe, wipe after having a bowel movement because they're never clean.

If we have tension or knots in this sphincter muscle complex, it's keeping the open. It's it's keeping are see that?

it The sphincter muscle open, and then it never closes firmly in order for them to have a complete clean wipe.

And when you release the tension in the sphincter complex, it can shut again. So when I'm assessing the sphincter complex, I want it closed.

I think of it like a front door where I have to knock in order to come in. That is where there's tension in the sphincter muscles where it's holding it closed.

That's ideal. That's normal. If I go to assess this and my finger pops in without having to knock or have any resistance, then I'm thinking that there's some tension in this that we need to release those knots to be able to close up the sphincter muscle.

And sometimes when you're working on them, you'll feel the reflex of the anus closing. And like, yay, that's good.

We want that. And. And another indicator that the sacrum is in flexion is if you notice that you have increased tension and tone on the lower half of the sphincter complex because the tailbone's pulling it backwards.

There's tension on that ligament, the raffi, and it's pulling on the inferior aspect of the sphincter muscle. When you bring the bone back into more midline position, more neutral position out of flexion, you take that tension off.

We still need to release this tension in the sphincter muscle in order to get that to be able to close completely and function well for our clients to have good bowel movements.

So please keep this in mind as you go to work with your clients this week to if they're dealing with tailbone pain, we need to work anteriorly with the sphincter muscle, posteriorly with the sacrum and laterally with the coccygeus muscle.

And then we can also work with the coccyx and sacral junction, that joint there, if there's any torsions or twists or side bending of the tailbone, that can be helpful there as well.

So I hope that was helpful for you all. And please make sure that you are assessing the sphincter complex, the sacrum out of flexion, if you have anybody dealing with tailbone pain.

All right. Thanks, everybody, for listening in. Here is to smoother burst, faster recoveries, and less tailbone pain for our clients.

Take care, everybody. We'll see you on the next episode. Please share this episode with any of your colleagues. Take care, everybody.

Bye-bye.-bye.