Coccyx Injuries: Why Tailbone Pain Can Persist

In this video, osteopath Cliff Avery discusses coccyx or tailbone injuries, why their effects can sometimes persist and how other parts of the body may compensate following an injury.

Transcript

Cliff Avery from Sydney Osteopathic Medicine, talking about coccyx injuries.

The body never came with a rule book, so everyone is out there trying to make it up. Research changes every ten years.

The coccyx is a really difficult area to recover once it has been injured. There are so many things in the human body that just get better by themselves. You can break a bone and it gets better. You can get a cut or graze, a bug, cold or flu, or bronchitis, and fully recover. You’re 100 per cent as good as you were before.

But the coccyx is one of those areas that can really struggle to recover on its own once it has been injured.

Pilates is one of the best forms of exercise for it, but that doesn’t necessarily get rid of the problem. It helps the body compensate. It doesn’t reverse the problem itself—you have to treat the underlying problem.

The annoying thing about a coccyx or sacroiliac problem is that it doesn’t necessarily show up on an MRI. An MRI can show structural damage such as disc prolapses, broken bones or tumours, but it doesn’t necessarily show things that aren’t functioning effectively.

When you hit your tailbone or coccyx with enough force, one of the sacroiliac joints can stop its natural movement, referred to as nutation and counternutation, on one side.

It will often load the muscles on that same side. Classically, this can involve the gluteus medius and the glutes as a whole, the psoas, tensor fasciae latae, lower back and rib cage. It can spread up towards the neck and down towards the knee. Every aspect around the area is then compensating.

That compensation can grow over the years until the body runs out of its ability to cope. That could happen with age, a lack of stretching or a lack of exercise. The problem then starts magnifying.

Exercise and stretching are helpful. They support the body as it compensates, but they don’t necessarily get rid of the underlying problem.

Even as an osteopath, I wouldn’t be so arrogant as to say that I can completely get rid of it. If it has been there for ten years, I probably can’t. It’s about improving how effectively the body functions—perhaps moving from 20 per cent effectiveness to 60, 70 or 80 per cent—so that someone may go from experiencing symptoms to not experiencing symptoms.

A coccyx injury can be a nasty injury, and the earlier it is assessed, the better. Don’t leave it for a decade.

We all fall on our backside at times. Sometimes you get up and laugh about it. But the injury that matters is the one you remember—the one that was extremely painful and perhaps left you unable to sit down for a few days.

There is a great deal more that can be discussed about coccyx injuries.

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and readability. It provides general information only and is not a substitute for individual health advice, diagnosis or treatment.