The Sacred Role of the Sacrum: How Your Tailbone Supports Movement, Nerves, and Whole-Body Health
The sacrum, also known as the tailbone, is a remarkable bone in the body. We usually only think about it when we’re sitting down, but here, I’ll briefly explore the sacred landscape’s beauty and function.
Introduction to the Sacrum
The sacrum is located at the very end of our spine and is held floating in place by many ligaments in the center of the pelvis. It is important in allowing us to stand straight and walk on our two legs. Its ability to move within the pelvis enables babies to enter the world.
For most of us, this bone consists of five vertebrae fused together. At the very tip of it is a different bone called the coccyx, which has its own remarkable function. If we focus just on the bony aspect of the structure, we can see how beautifully it’s placed in the body’s midline. Ligaments—which connect bone to bone—are wrapped all around it. The hip bones, therefore, have their own relationship with the sacrum, and the lumbar spine has its own relationship to the sacrum. Even the skull has a relationship with the sacrum. The back of the skull—called the occiput—has a ligament that connects all the way down to the second part of the sacrum. What a remarkable relationship! Things happening in the skull affect what’s happening in the pelvis, and things happening in the pelvis affect what’s happening in the skull.
Movement of the Sacrum
The sacrum moves in several ways, and here are examples of a few:
- Our sacrum moves from side to side along a diagonal axis when we walk.
- When we breathe, the diaphragm in our belly increases the pressure within our abdomen, and as a result, our sacrum tilts backward to allow for space and synchronized function to occur.
- Lastly, the fluid that bathes our brain and spinal cord fluctuates up and down the spine on its own accord and influences the motion of the sacrum, causing it to float anteriorly and posteriorly in its own rhythm.
And now we ask the question as to the purpose of this motion. Why do we need the sacrum to move while we walk? Is it just a biomechanical tool that helps our skeleton stay upright or is there more to it?
The Nerves of the Sacrum
Through the spaces of the fused vertebrae of the sacrum, nerves come outwards—like threads coming through a needle—to innervate all of our pelvic organs. These nerves go to the last part of our gut, the uterus, the prostate, the bladder, and more.
For those of you who know what the vagus nerve is, the sacrum is in charge of its parallel function in the lower half of the body. The vagus nerve is responsible for the “rest and digest” functions of our upper organs, such as the heart, lungs, and stomach. The sacrum is responsible for the “rest and digest” functions of our lower organs, such as the colon, rectum, bladder, and more.
The motion of the sacrum nourishes the nerves that come from the spinal cord, through the holes between the vertebrae, and into the organs. Its motion or lack of motion plays a role in the integrity of the function of these nerves. Symptoms like constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, urinary urgency, diarrhea, and interstitial cystitis are a few examples of symptoms for which the sacrum would be a place of evaluation and treatment by an osteopath.
Sacrum Dysfunction
As an osteopath, I evaluate from head to toe and often find the sacrum to be completely locked in place.
Very common presentations of sacrum dysfunction occur:
- After a concussion, the impact to the skull affects the function of the occiput and, therefore, affects the function of the sacrum.
- A fall on the tailbone while doing gymnastics, dancing, skateboarding, or anything else where one would land directly on the tailbone can result in significant injury. Many times, individuals incur significant injury to their tailbones, but at the time of impact, there was no known medicine for treatment or even much importance or value placed on the injury’s significance and long-term effects.
- For females with very painful menstruation, this is a clue that the integrity of the sacrum’s natural motion has been impacted. Once the sacrum is treated by an osteopath, the ligaments that hold the uterus to the pelvis—from within the pelvis—have more balance and homeostasis in their monthly function.
- Orthodontic dental work causes a lot of intracranial tension. As a result, it is very likely to restrict the sacrum due to its relationship with the occipital bone in the head. I see this quite often in teenagers who start getting orthodontic dental work and begin experiencing headaches.
These are just a few examples to get you thinking like an osteopath, allowing you to gain a “zooming out” perspective, bring into your worldview the relationship of the cranium with the sacrum, and appreciate the nerves that come out of the sacrum and their relationship with the organs in the pelvis.
In osteopathy, we learn and mirror the beauty of the natural world and see it reflected within the human body. We navigate the landscape of the bony structures, ligaments, nerves, and more, and are completely immersed in their holistic relationship with one another. No structure is made by accident, and no relationship in the body is a coincidence.
So, get that sacrum moving by mindful, whole-body breathing and walking, or even better, by dancing!
And look out for those injuries that may impact the function of the sacrum.
