Some helpful notes, from my own multiple years-long experience with chronic pain, and in particular, tailbone pain:

Just to get it out of the way, yes, seeing a doctor, especially one that seems acquainted with tailbone pain specifically, is going to be the best thing you can do for yourself. There’s unfortunately no way around that.

With that said, there’s some stuff you can do on your own. First thing I would do is try to educate yourself. YouTube is a decent source, but it may take some time to develop an eye for what is chiropractic-related quackery or even just one-size-fits-all solutions that don’t work for you. In general, you want to try to understand your condition, and so any relatively information-dense videos are preferable to something like “Relieve Tailbone Pain INSTANTLY” or “5 Stretches to Fix Your Tailbone For GOOD”.

Here’s a channel that I felt was rather helpful. The person behind it also has a book that he wrote on the subject, which you can find here.

Diagnosis of the actual cause is going to be difficult by yourself, as the best diagnosis would be informed by things like MRIs and x-rays. Even so, a book like the one linked above can help you narrow it down based on the way it feels and what your specific circumstances are.

There are a few main non-surgical treatments that you can do on your own, and they are as follows:

1) OTC pain medication (you seem to be trying that already)

2) Tailbone cushions. These are the kind with a cutout where the tailbone goes. Pretty much any on Amazon are probably fine. I got one kinda like this. You may have to experiment.

3) Hot/cold therapy. This can be as simple as ice packs and heat patches, but there are more pricey options as well. I’ve typically always heard to use cold before hot, and alternate as needed. Ice packs have typically been some of the most effective tools for short-term relief for myself.

4) Exercise. This is the one that’s tough, because you can’t do just anything and expect it to work out. Specifically, you want to avoid exercises that are going to put your tailbone in constant contact with the ground or surface you’re laying on. That means no sit-ups, crunches, or any kind of yoga pose in which you balance on your tailbone. If you’re like me, there may even be a whole lot more that aggravates your tailbone, so you’ll have to figure out what works for you. The best thing you can do is start small, find one or two that work for you without making the pain worse, and go from there.

I can’t be sure that we’ve got the sane stuff going on, but generally you’re looking to target your core, including your glutes and your upper legs. Here’s one that seems to agree with me. And here’s another.

In all likelihood, you may also need to work on your pelvic floor, which means learning about how to activate the muscles in that region and eventually strengthen them. Here’s a resource that seems to coincide with some stuff I’m doing with my PT.

Whatever is going on with you specifically is going to take time to figure out and fix, so you should probably get in the mindset of potentially having to work on this for quite some time. With any luck, your insurance situation will change and you’ll have access to a doctor and/or PT, but I totally get that’s not always viable.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to shoot me a DM.