Painful Tailbone (Coccydynia)
Usually related to some traumatic event where the patient has landed quite heavily on their buttocks resulting in severe pain at the tip of the tail-bone(coccyx).
Symptoms
- Localized to the tip of the coccyx. It does not radiate into the lower extremities or the pelvis.
- Increases with sitting on hard surfaces
- Increases when rocking forwards to transfer from sitting to standing position
- May increase during sexual intercourse or bowel motion
Causes
- Direct trauma
- Fracture/dislocation of the tip of coccyx
- Hypermobile sacro-coccygeal joint
- Tumours
Non-surgicalTreatment
- Anti-inflammatories
- Analgesia
- Local steroid block
- Hot/Cold packs
- Special cushions
SurgicalTreatment
For persistent pain that is not alleviated with non-surgical treatment and/or activity modification, surgical removal of all or a portion of the coccyx (coccygectomy) is an option.
Coccygectomy surgery is rarely recommended and performed. While the surgery itself is a relatively straight-forward operation, recovery from the surgery can be a long and uncomfortable process for the patient.
