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Suggest Remedy For Lower Back Pain During Pregnancy
Question: Hello,
I'm currently 37 weeks pregnant with my first child and although this pregnancy has been uncomplicated in terms of the baby's wellbeing I have encountered various problems.
Going back to pre-pregnancy...Around five years ago I started having what felt like nerveain pain in the outer part of my right buttock. This pain would come and go but was present for part of every day. I didn't seek help for this as it was more of a niggle than anything else and I thought that the fact it came and went suggested it wasn't too serious.
Then around two years ago I started to experience lower abdominal and back pain on a daily basis. This was particularly bad when standing or walking for any length of time, it got worse during the course of the day and seemed to be exacerbated by bowel fullness. I went to my GP numerous times and she said it sounded like mechanical back pain and advised that I enrolled in a pilates class. I was worried at the time that the cause may be ovarian so went for a private pelvic ultrasound which was normal.
I then became pregnant and my back and abdominal pain seemed to improve. I have a feeling that it may be that constipation was a factor in this pain and hormonal changes may have made this less of an issue. However, from around 12-22 weeks I experienced extreme pain around my coccyx to the extent that sitting was really uncomfortable.
This eased off around 20 weeks and was no longer really a problem but at 24 weeks I started to experience quite extreme stabbing/electric shock pain in my bladder/urethral area. After doing various urine samples for different doctors and midwives I had an appointment with a urogynecologist at 33 weeks. He performed a urodynamic study which revealed an interrupted urine flow and delayed sensation with bladder filling. The consultant suggested that my bladder pain issues combined with my coccyx and piriformis pain suggested possible irritation of the sacral nerve roots or any branches of the S2-S4 nerve branches.
Now that I am in the late stages of pregnancy the coccyx pain on sitting the lower back ache and the buttock pain have all returned. I'm also experiencing difficulty with bowel movements where it just feels as if the nerves and muscles arent working well.
My main reason for writing to you today is that I've had to sit at a desk for a lot of today and my coccyx pain has increased in intensity. I stupidly made the mistake of googling 'coccyx pain causes' and one of the suggestions was sacral chordoma tumor. the symptoms described were coccyx pain, low back pain and bladder and bowel dysfunction and I'm suddenly really anxious that all of these symptoms that I have had over the past few years could have a sinister cause. I have had no imaging studies in the past few years as every time I have mentioned any of these symptoms to a GP they haven't seemed concerned and have dismissed my symptoms as being lifestyle related (ie sitting at work for long periods of time and my hobby of adult ballet classes which involves a lot of hip flexation)
I guess what I'm looking for is some re-assurance that there are all sorts of possible causes for these symptoms and that something like sacral chordoma is unlikely. I do of course realise that without any imaging you can't offer me definitive answers and I will request further investigation if the symptoms do not significantly diminish after pregnancy but at the moment I just need some degree of peace of mind!
Many thanks for your help and I'm sorry this is so long winded!
Kind regards,
XXXX
I'm currently 37 weeks pregnant with my first child and although this pregnancy has been uncomplicated in terms of the baby's wellbeing I have encountered various problems.
Going back to pre-pregnancy...Around five years ago I started having what felt like nerveain pain in the outer part of my right buttock. This pain would come and go but was present for part of every day. I didn't seek help for this as it was more of a niggle than anything else and I thought that the fact it came and went suggested it wasn't too serious.
Then around two years ago I started to experience lower abdominal and back pain on a daily basis. This was particularly bad when standing or walking for any length of time, it got worse during the course of the day and seemed to be exacerbated by bowel fullness. I went to my GP numerous times and she said it sounded like mechanical back pain and advised that I enrolled in a pilates class. I was worried at the time that the cause may be ovarian so went for a private pelvic ultrasound which was normal.
I then became pregnant and my back and abdominal pain seemed to improve. I have a feeling that it may be that constipation was a factor in this pain and hormonal changes may have made this less of an issue. However, from around 12-22 weeks I experienced extreme pain around my coccyx to the extent that sitting was really uncomfortable.
This eased off around 20 weeks and was no longer really a problem but at 24 weeks I started to experience quite extreme stabbing/electric shock pain in my bladder/urethral area. After doing various urine samples for different doctors and midwives I had an appointment with a urogynecologist at 33 weeks. He performed a urodynamic study which revealed an interrupted urine flow and delayed sensation with bladder filling. The consultant suggested that my bladder pain issues combined with my coccyx and piriformis pain suggested possible irritation of the sacral nerve roots or any branches of the S2-S4 nerve branches.
Now that I am in the late stages of pregnancy the coccyx pain on sitting the lower back ache and the buttock pain have all returned. I'm also experiencing difficulty with bowel movements where it just feels as if the nerves and muscles arent working well.
My main reason for writing to you today is that I've had to sit at a desk for a lot of today and my coccyx pain has increased in intensity. I stupidly made the mistake of googling 'coccyx pain causes' and one of the suggestions was sacral chordoma tumor. the symptoms described were coccyx pain, low back pain and bladder and bowel dysfunction and I'm suddenly really anxious that all of these symptoms that I have had over the past few years could have a sinister cause. I have had no imaging studies in the past few years as every time I have mentioned any of these symptoms to a GP they haven't seemed concerned and have dismissed my symptoms as being lifestyle related (ie sitting at work for long periods of time and my hobby of adult ballet classes which involves a lot of hip flexation)
I guess what I'm looking for is some re-assurance that there are all sorts of possible causes for these symptoms and that something like sacral chordoma is unlikely. I do of course realise that without any imaging you can't offer me definitive answers and I will request further investigation if the symptoms do not significantly diminish after pregnancy but at the moment I just need some degree of peace of mind!
Many thanks for your help and I'm sorry this is so long winded!
Kind regards,
XXXX
Brief Answer:
Very low chance of sacral tumor.
Detailed Answer:
Hi, I had gone through your question and understand your concerns.
Chordoma is very uncommon to be found in people under 40 years of age.
Time from onset of symptoms till diagnosis is few months and do not exceed 20 months, so five years history of chordoma is very unlikely.
Since you are pregnant I assume you had vaginal examination that usually reveals if there is a sacral mass.
Pelvic ultrasound could give a doubt if there was something at that time.
All these arguments are in disfavor of chordoma, so in my opinion you need to peace your mind, give birth and later you can have necessary examinations and tests to reveal the cause of your symptoms.
I think in your case there is no Chordoma.
Wishing you good health and a easy birth.
If you have further questions feel free to ask.
Very low chance of sacral tumor.
Detailed Answer:
Hi, I had gone through your question and understand your concerns.
Chordoma is very uncommon to be found in people under 40 years of age.
Time from onset of symptoms till diagnosis is few months and do not exceed 20 months, so five years history of chordoma is very unlikely.
Since you are pregnant I assume you had vaginal examination that usually reveals if there is a sacral mass.
Pelvic ultrasound could give a doubt if there was something at that time.
All these arguments are in disfavor of chordoma, so in my opinion you need to peace your mind, give birth and later you can have necessary examinations and tests to reveal the cause of your symptoms.
I think in your case there is no Chordoma.
Wishing you good health and a easy birth.
If you have further questions feel free to ask.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Prasad
Thank you. Am I also correct in thinking that a tumor would usually cause more persistent symptoms rather than symptoms that come and go? I did go for quite a while in this pregnancy with no back or coccyx pain and although I now have hip pain when I wake up at night (which I presume is just a late pregnancy symptom) I generally haven't had any pain when lying down - only back pain when standing for prolonged periods and coccyx pain when sitting.
Apologies for the further questions but I was on the verge of really panicking about this so I need to re-assure myself as much as possible so I can concentrate on the more imminent task of giving birth!
Many thanks,
XXXX
Apologies for the further questions but I was on the verge of really panicking about this so I need to re-assure myself as much as possible so I can concentrate on the more imminent task of giving birth!
Many thanks,
XXXX
Brief Answer:
You are correct.
Detailed Answer:
Hi again XXXXXXX
You can ask as many questions as you have and you are welcome.
Expanding masses usually give expanding and worsening of symptoms in time.
Hip pain in the setting of pregnancy is expected as is expected back pain etc.
I don't think is necessary to focus on symptoms because there is a pregnancy that may explain most of them.
Again, I don't think your case is a case of sacral tumor especially chordoma.
Best regards.
Wishing you to give birth a beautiful and healthy baby.
You are correct.
Detailed Answer:
Hi again XXXXXXX
You can ask as many questions as you have and you are welcome.
Expanding masses usually give expanding and worsening of symptoms in time.
Hip pain in the setting of pregnancy is expected as is expected back pain etc.
I don't think is necessary to focus on symptoms because there is a pregnancy that may explain most of them.
Again, I don't think your case is a case of sacral tumor especially chordoma.
Best regards.
Wishing you to give birth a beautiful and healthy baby.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Prasad
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