Health Organization for Pudendal Education

Hello. On August 20th, 2015, my uterus ruptured. I was 38w3d gestation. Unfortunately my son did not make it, but the doctor was able to save my life... Ever since that day, I have had pain in my tailbone. I have sat on donuts, pillows, cushions... nothing seems to help. I had 2 chiropractors tell me there is nothing more they can do for me.. Last week I started having bowel issues, and a weird pressure feeling in that area..I decided it was time to go to the doctor. She ordered an Xray. It came back that my tailbone had sclerosis, arthritis, and was eroding. She does not believe this is accurate. I see an Orthopedic doctor on February 10th, but the pain is becoming to be unbearable. I only take anti-inflammatories for it... I then found information of PN. I thought, "This is what I have." I have the exact symptoms! Now I will still go see my Ortho doc for a second opinion, but I am wondering if anyone on this forum went through a similar traumatic event that caused PN? OR if anyone has suggestions on how to relieve that area... Standing and laying down doesn't seem to even help anymore.. Thanks!

kaila42000, I am so sorry to hear of your loss.

It seems odd that you doctor wouldn't believe an xray. Did she look at the xray herself? If the radiologist read it correctly she should be able to see it also.

I would imagine the ortho doctor will order an MRI to take a closer look at your tailbone. If you want an MRI that specifically looks at the pudendal nerve you will need to go to Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC and have Dr. Potter read the MRI. She does share her protocol with other radiology departments but if you can travel and your insurance company will cover it I would suggest you go to NYC and have the MRI by Dr. Potter. If you put her name up in the search on the right hand side you will need to look through the threads to see how exactly the prescription for the MRI needs to be written. Or you can Google her name and call the Hospital For Special Surgery and tell them you need an pelvic MRI that looks specifically at the pudendal nerve, how does the prescription need to be worded so that you get the correct MRI parameters.

You can also talk with you family doctor about trying some other medications that might help the pain such as Lyrica or amitriptyline. They are two common medications they start patients on for pain that are non-narcotic based.

Thank you for your condolences.. And thank you for your advice. I go back for a follow-up tomorrow morning so I will talk about these options with her. It isn't that she doesn't believe the radiologist, it's just that I never had the pain until after the trauma I went through. She just wants to make sure I am diagnosed and treated correctly.. I should've went to the doctor months ago, but I just kept putting it off..

nyt wrote:kaila42000, I am so sorry to hear of your loss.

It seems odd that you doctor wouldn't believe an xray. Did she look at the xray herself? If the radiologist read it correctly she should be able to see it also.

I would imagine the ortho doctor will order an MRI to take a closer look at your tailbone. If you want an MRI that specifically looks at the pudendal nerve you will need to go to Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC and have Dr. Potter read the MRI. She does share her protocol with other radiology departments but if you can travel and your insurance company will cover it I would suggest you go to NYC and have the MRI by Dr. Potter. If you put her name up in the search on the right hand side you will need to look through the threads to see how exactly the prescription for the MRI needs to be written. Or you can Google her name and call the Hospital For Special Surgery and tell them you need an pelvic MRI that looks specifically at the pudendal nerve, how does the prescription need to be worded so that you get the correct MRI parameters.

You can also talk with you family doctor about trying some other medications that might help the pain such as Lyrica or amitriptyline. They are two common medications they start patients on for pain that are non-narcotic based.

Kaila,

Not sure what type of treatments the chiro's gave you but you may want to consider seeing a physical therapist who specializes in pelvic pain/pudendal neuralgia. They could evaluate your pelvic floor muscles for tension that could be contributing to your pain. They should be able to do a vaginal pelvic exam to see where the pain generators are and whether the course of the pudendal nerve is tender. I don't know if erosion, sclerosis, and arthritis of the coccyx typically cause the kind of severe pain you seem to be having. Just be careful about heading into any kind of surgery until you are certain of the diagnosis. One of our forum members had their coccyx removed and it wasn't helpful.

Another website you might want to check out is http://coccyx.org/
It has a lot of good information on it.

We do hear stories of people who had traumatic events that were the start of their chronic pain, including difficult childbirth experiences. I'm sorry you went through such a difficult experience.

Violet