Don't lose your hope!

Hannah, Switzerland - han.matthews@gmail.com

Posted 2025-09-21

Who I am: A relatively fit and healthy 40 year old woman. Sporty, active, not overweight. Living between Geneva, Madrid and London. No children.

Possibly relevant past medical info:

2015: transversal fracture of sacrum (due to a fall while hiking. Caused big bruise, healed in about 10 weeks with rest and cut out cushion, no known consequences). At S3-S4 junction, with mild anterior angulation.
2019: surgery to remove tumour (benign myxoma 10 cm diameter) in right hamstring/glute. Although the leg has worked fine since then, it feels different: less mobility in hamstring/hip, and weird sensation on skin (feels 'frozen'). Does not bother me, but muscles no doubt different after the operation.
2023 & 2024: substantial and prolonged levels of stress linked to personal life and work.

What I tried:

Over the period Sept 2024 - March 2025, during which time I was signed off work and in deep distress, I tried the following (spending a small fortune along the way...!) :

MRI scans and xray showed slight inflammation of the coccyx, and slight angulation (but nobody was able to say if this was 'normal' for me, or whether there was a problem). Essentially they were inconclusive and unhelpful.
General physiotherapy: not hugely useful as very little focus on coccyx.
Corticosteroid injections (SI joint & coccyx): some improvement. (Dr Hernandez, see Doctors and specialists in Spain, Madrid)
Acupuncture and cupping: good for relaxation but minimal improvement.
Osteopathy: some improvement especially with manipulations of the neck (!)
Chiropractor: Dr Griffiths (see Doctors and specialists in the UK, London) helped me to 'diagnose' that there was an issue. This was hugely validating psychologically. He introduced me to breathing exercises. The manipulations per se (weekly over 10 weeks) did not provide any physical improvement and he ended up recommending further injections.
Atlas realignment: zero effect (and very expensive!)
Pelvic floor physiotherapy: thoughtful, gentle, amazing listener, and a healer. Within 8 weeks I was able to consider going back to work. Marta Toribio (see Doctors and specialists in Spain, Madrid) was clearly the most helpful for me. I am now about 80% better - still have to be careful sitting and with some movements, but I am able to function and more or less lead a normal life - which feels like a HUGE achievement after some miserable months.

What I think was most helpful:

Pelvic floor physiotherapy with Marta Toribio (note that I had tried a couple of other pelvic floor physios who I would NOT recommend as their approaches actually only made the tension in my muscles worse)
Listening to the podcast on chronic pain "Tell me about your pain"
Following the app "Curable"
Breathing exercises to calm the nervous system
Meditation using the app "Expand" with frequencies
Maintaining movement - initially just loads of walking, but gradually building up a routine of elliptical machine and pilates that I now do almost daily.
Taking a short document to every appointment which outlined what I'd done and how it had gone (it's much easier for doctors to absorb info than explaining it out loud...!)

Good luck to anyone going through this process, I know how awful it is... Trust that most cases DO improve so don't lose your hope! and try to delve into working on your nervous system as this can really help you cope.

All the best

Hannah

Update, 2026-10-04

I'd say I'm now 95% better but still struggle with: sitting for long periods of time (travel, meetings), particularly on soft chairs. I barely use my doughnut cushion except for driving or long distance travel. Pain is more like an ache and I can shake it off quickly (nothing like what it used to be). No referred pain to lower back any more. Delighted to have been able to complete a mini triathlon :-)