For almost a year now I have been having tail bone issues. My symptoms were that I have been having to really STRAIN to empty my bladder & had a couple of urinary tract infections after having none for about 4 years. Also, I normally have urinary incontinence, especially when I get out of bed in the AM, but that sort of went away. I went to see the urologist who once again insisted that I needed to start cathing myself (which I am NOT ready to do as long as I have ANY bladder control) & told me that she WOULD NOT give me a prescription to see the PT who helped me to learn to do kegels again a few years ago. When I left the urologist's office I knew that I would never go back there. Why would she deny me the opportunity to be evaluated by another practitioner before I decided how to get healed? This is another example of physicians being arrogant and thinking that they hold all the answers to cure (NOT!!!).
Anyway, I went to see my physiatrist who has never denied me anything & she gave me the Rx I needed to see the women's health care PT. To my complete astonishment the PT told me after inspecting me that my tail bone was shifted & curled up underneath itself. Undoubtedly this was pressing on the urethra and actually obstructing it so that's why I was having to bare down so hard to urinate. She said that she had never seen one so out of whack. She told me that the adjustment would be quite painful, however, given the nerve damage I don't have much sensation down there so pain wasn't much of an issue. I saw here for 6 weekly visits and she needed to adjust the tail bone each time. In addition she checked the strength of my ability to perform kegel exercises and compared them to 4 years ago when I last saw her and they were even STRONGER. I owe my diligence in pilates to that ("lift up in your perineum" became my mantra several years ago...).
Now, about three months after the first episode I am back to the physical therapist because I once again am experiencing symptoms and the tail bone is even MORE out of whack than the first time. What the hell is going on? I am practically crazy with anxiety about this. We can not figure out what is going on. My physiatrist thought that maybe the whole S-I joint needed stabilization but the PT says, "No." The S-I is fine (phew...). If anyone out there has had similar experiences I would like to hear of it. All I can say for now is that I am SO thankful to have one really good physiatrist and an excellent PT who knows what she is doing.
Also what freaks me out about the tail bone issue is that, upon investigation online, I discovered that the tail bone is the 1st chakra & that its stability has all sorts of implications about how one feels about themselves especially about their right to exist in the world. Sheesh, it's a good thing that I'm no shrinking violet or I'd be in the loony bin or dead. Actually, I have been acting a little crazy for several months and this sort of explains it...