Coccyx pain

Injury

The coccyx can become injured or painful from:

• A fall, landing on your bottom. E.g. slip on ice, fall from a horse, missing a chair when sitting down.
• Childbirth.
• Repetitive strain.
• Being over or under weight.
• Surgery. 

A painful coccyx is known as coccydynia. 

Symptoms of Coccydynia

• Pain during or after sitting.
• Acute pain when getting up from sitting.
• Deep ache around the coccyx (between the buttocks).
• Tenderness on pressing the tip of the coccyx.
• Pain during daily activities such as bending and those which include sitting e.g. driving, office work or relaxing on the sofa.
• Shooting pains.
• Like sitting on a marble.
• Pain during sexual intercourse.
• Pain during a bowel movement or when the bowel is full.

Treatment

There are a number of treatment options which may help to reduce the symptoms. Simple self help measures you can try at home are recommended first. These are:

• Ice or Heat. Do not apply heat or ice directly to your skin and only apply it for 10-20 minutes at a time, leaving at least 1 hour in-between uses.
• Anti-inflammatory or pain relief medication as recommended by the pharmacist / GP.
• Try to change your position before you feel your pain increasing. You can avoid direct pressure while sitting by using towels/cushions as described on the next page.
• Manage constipation. i.e. Increase fluid and/or fibre intake. If necessary laxatives as recommended by the pharmacist.
• Massage and gentle stretches such as these from the Pelvic Pain Foundation of Australia.

Sitting

One of the most important things you can do to help your pain is to change the way you sit, or reduce it where possible:

• Lean forward on your thighs to reduce the pressure on your coccyx.
• Try not to sit on ‘one cheek’ as this places strain on the rest of your body.
• lace two rolled up towels in a V shape with the point at the front of the seat. Place your sit bones on the towels and your coccyx will remain free of pressure at the back.

We expect that these self-management strategies and stretches will slowly become easier over a number of weeks. If after a number of weeks you feel that your pain is not improving, you can ask to be referred to a musculoskeletal (MSK) Physiotherapist for further assessment and treatment.

Reference
www.coccyx.org