Bruised coccyx

fyak1 · June 2009

Hi all,

A week ago I came acropper and landed heavily on my coccyx. Could hardly sit down the day after and things such as coughing caused eye-watering pain. Although it has improved slightly it's evidently badly bruised and still very painful if I am sitting in certain positions. I don't believe I've fractured it (haven't gone to docs. Yet).
I've read that such an injury can take a fair time to improve, and I'd welcome advice/relevant experience from anyone who's suffered a similar injury.

Cheers

Fred

airborne_warrior · June 2009

Happened to me in 1999 when I landed on a fence parachuting and ended up landing on my arsse. I've suffered with it ever since, though I kept the injury quiet as I didn't want to risk being taken off the Kosovo op we were going on around a week later. I obviously went to see the doc after the op was over and it turned out my left leg was now 2cm shorter than my right. Since the injury my running has suffered massively, that's why I switched to the bike. I have pain in my hip and hamstring almost constantly. Hopefully yours won't be as bad.

fyak1 · June 2009

Blimey, that's very nasty.
Mine is certainly not that bad. I can't say I was travelling in a downward direction anywhere near as fast as you would've been. I'll stop feeling sorry for myself right now!

fyak1 · June 2009

I should also add that, unlike the genuine action man scenario in which you sustained your injury, I got mine when vainly attempting to show off my supreme bike handling skills by cycling a road bike down a very steep overgrown grass bank at 3am whilst shite-arsed. I failed spectacularly. Seemed very funny all the way through until the next morning when I could hardly move for pain. Silly arse.

AMcD · July 2009

Hi Fred,

I can't give you much postive info other than it will probably take a long time to get better - sorry

. My husband and I bought roller skates, hoping to take them to New York and skate in Central Park but on my first time out fell heavily on my coccyx in Dunfermline skate park :oops: . Think the teenagers still laugh about it today

. The skates went straight on Ebay

.

The worst thing I found was getting out of a sitting position - the agony! I once cried with pain and frustration on my way home from work. I don't think anybody could imagine the pain. I was new to my job too so didn't go on about it and only had 2 days off work. Couldn't sit at the computer for a long time and even bought the cheapest reclining sofa so I could at least watch the telly.

I also didn't get an x-ray. I went to the GP for strong painkillers as I had a long car journey planned and she said they couldn't do anything even if it was broken.

The thing is it does get better but slowly I'm afraid. I didn't try cycling for a long time but strangely when I did pluck up the courage the saddle didn't cause any problems, perhaps because your sit bones take all the pressure.

Whilst trying to find a cure I found details of coccyxdinia (or similar) - strangely, people can suffer with this pain for years with no known cause and no sense of it getting better. At least if you have had a direct injury you would expect it to slowly get better.

I'd still try your own GP - if it is fractured I'd hope they could do something for you. Good luck.

fyak1 · July 2009

Thanks for the info, Angie.
It has been getting better slowly and, as you found, being on the bike is not too bad. I've just started learning to drive and find that sitting in the car is the most uncomfortable thing, but still bearable whereas two weeks back I couldn't even roll over in bed without lots of pain. Sneezing also hurts quite a bit. Hopefully I'll not get swine flu!
Cheers
Fred

ut_och_cykla · July 2009

I sat down 'wrong' when holding my 2 year old many years ago. VERY painful coccyx which got a bit better and then stayed uncomfortable for literally months. I got through life but the teh constant disconformt (and real pain in some situations) really gor me dwon. One day at the gym I tried that back extension thingy where you fix your legs adn roll forward over a padded bar. It wasn't painful and then somethng said PING! and I laughed - fixed! Wouldn't recommend it for a recent accident but worth considering if it becomes chronic.

hamstrich · July 2009

Hope it clears up for you soon Fred. I'm afraid I can't offer any advice, but I can share my commiserations since I suffered an injury in a similar region on Saturday after getting back from a long ride. I was feeling a little jelly-legged, and when I got into the shower I slipped and fell heavily, resulting in the side of the bath tub whacking me perfectly right between the legs

It was the most intense pain I've felt in a long, long time... luckily I don't seem to have hit my coccyx, but I've got a fair bit of bruising down below which made getting on the saddle this morning less than pleasant!

teulk · July 2009

A girl i work with broke hers about 7months ago and she suffers quite badly. Our job is office based and she can only work for 4hrs as that is all she can stay seated for and then it becomes to painfull. If you lucky a few months if not then a lot longer.

fyak1 · July 2009

Well, a very wide range of situations in which we've damaged ourselves: Slipping in the shower, parachuting at night, holding babies, and, er, cycling down a grass embankment... drunk. Hmmm. Everyone else was at least unlucky to sustain the injury, unlike my drunk self. Thankfully my pain is not now very noticeable unless slouching in a seat, so hopefully I'm in the lucky minority who won't suffer for months or longer. Hopefully.

HAMSTRICH, I see you're from the same region as me, so you may know the place I sustained my injury. Castle Hill in Cambridge? Was up at the top with a few friends and a few bottles late into the night and on leaving decided I could/would stunt-cycle to the bottom. Tried going down the steps at first but even in my state immediately realised that was stupid, so did the sensible thing, jumped back on the bike... and went straight over the side and down the grass in the direction of the government offices. A lot steeper and more uneven than I'd expected (the long grass made it look invitingly smooth). Came off very quickly but reckon I'd hit 20mph by the time I did!
One day I will try again, perhaps on a sled.

hoolio · July 2009

Yep, bruised my coccyx a few years ago while mountain boarding. First time I tried it and was having a great day. Over cooked a small jump and knew it before I even left the ground. Aw crap. :roll: Landed hard and spent the next few months remembering it.
Not nice.

hamstrich · July 2009

Ah yes, I know castle mound very well - I used to live right next to it! Somehow it never occurred to me to try cycling down it... you must have been pretty damned pissed, that's all I can say!

I've heard that it is very good for sledging in winter - will probably be a few years before we see another decent covering of snow though

fyak1 wrote:

HAMSTRICH, I see you're from the same region as me, so you may know the place I sustained my injury. Castle Hill in Cambridge? Was up at the top with a few friends and a few bottles late into the night and on leaving decided I could/would stunt-cycle to the bottom. Tried going down the steps at first but even in my state immediately realised that was stupid, so did the sensible thing, jumped back on the bike... and went straight over the side and down the grass in the direction of the government offices. A lot steeper and more uneven than I'd expected (the long grass made it look invitingly smooth). Came off very quickly but reckon I'd hit 20mph by the time I did!
One day I will try again, perhaps on a sled.

Bruised coccyx

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