How to tell if your coccyx is fractured

The coccyx is located at the very end of the spine. It does not have the function of supporting or protecting internal organs. It is a piece of bony structure that remains after the tail degenerates. When a person falls from a sitting position, the coccyx is often the first to be injured (especially for people with thin hips who lack muscle and fat protection). In mild cases, it may cause damage or dislocation of the sacrum and coccyx, while in severe cases, it may cause dislocation of the coccyx or even fracture. It can be seen that the coccyx is very fragile, so let us now learn how to tell whether the coccyx is fractured.

Coccyx fractures and dislocations are significantly more common than sacral fractures, especially in women, and often occur in daily life and sports accidents. The pain is generally tolerable and is accompanied by obvious direct or indirect tenderness. In severe cases, it may affect bowel movements. Patients often do not like sitting due to the pain in their tail, or even refuse to sit, and would rather lie on their side in bed to rest.

1. Department of treatment

orthopedics

2. High-incidence groups

female

3. Common causes

When falling and sitting on the ground, the ground is directly hit by a hard object

4. Common symptoms

Local congestion, tail pain

5. Causes

When falling and sitting on the ground, it is caused by direct impact from hard objects on the ground.

6. Clinical manifestations

⑴ Local congestion

It is often not obvious in the early stage after injury, and is only seen when violence directly acts on a local area; but it can be clearly seen several days after the injury.

⑵ Digital anal examination

In addition to direct tenderness, severe indirect tenderness and tension pain may occur when the end of the coccyx is touched. This is very helpful for diagnosis, especially in the early stages after injury, and can be used to determine whether it is a fresh fracture.

During the examination, both frontal and lateral views are required to determine the condition and extent of the injury. Those who show deformities and displacements on X-rays but have no clinical symptoms are mostly congenital malformations or old injuries and generally do not need to be diagnosed.

7. Diagnosis

The diagnosis is made based on clinical manifestations and relevant examinations.

8. Treatment

① Non-surgical treatment

(1 ) Acute phase: Rest in bed for 3 to 5 days and then gradually get out of bed and move around, using an inflatable or sponge pad when sitting. For those with displaced fractures, manual reduction is performed through digital rectal examination under local anesthesia (sliding up and down and applying pressure to return the distal fracture end to its original position), and repeated once after 3 days. It is often difficult to obtain ideal reduction due to the traction of the perianal and anal levator muscles.

(2) Chronic stage: Physical therapy, sitz bath and other treatments are possible, and care should be taken not to apply excessive pressure to the local area. For seriously ill patients, sacral canal blockade therapy can be performed once a week, with 3 to 4 times as a course of treatment. For patients with persistent symptoms, coccygeal resection may be performed as appropriate.

②Surgical treatment

Mainly coccygeal resection.