What causes coccyx pain?

If there is pain in the coccyx, there are many reasons, both physiological and disease-related. For example, improper force may cause soft tissue injury. In addition, if you sit for too long, it may cause hyperplasia of the coccyx, which may also cause pain. In this case, you should go to the hospital for examination and treatment in time, and pay attention to health care in your daily life.

What causes coccyx pain?

1. Improper use of force

Coccyx pain is an experience that everyone has to some extent. If you sit down too hard, your buttocks hit a hard object directly, your buttocks land first when you slip, or sit in an incorrect posture for a long time (lying against the back of a chair or on the ground), all of these may cause damage to the coccyx and surrounding tissues.

2. Soft tissue injury

The coccyx is the lowest part of the spine and is a bone that has no obvious use in the evolution of the human body. The coccyx itself has soft tissue attachments such as the coccygeal ligament, gluteus maximus, coccygeal muscle, anal sphincter, levator ani muscle, and nerves. The coccyx of men is more curved inward and located higher than the ischial tuberosity, providing better protection when impacted. The coccyx of women is straighter and longer, so they are more susceptible to bruising, or even fracture and deformation, when they fall than men.

3. Reasons for sitting for a long time

Generally speaking, patients will feel pain as long as they sit on a hard chair; they will also feel pain when they stand up after sitting for a long time. However, other activities such as walking, lying down, etc. will not aggravate the pain. If the coccyx is fractured, symptoms include pain in the coccyx and surrounding tissues, cramps, local tenderness, inability to maintain a normal sitting posture, and even lying down or walking will cause pain in the coccyx. If the condition is severe, coughing, sneezing, and defecation will cause pain.

What to do if your tailbone hurts

Although coccyx pain is usually not a serious problem, if it is not treated, it can cause discomfort or even deformation of the back in the long run. Therefore, correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment, coupled with close maintenance, are the best ways to stay away from coccyx pain.

Coccyx pain is pain in the coccyx or nearby muscles. Its characteristic is that the pain is aggravated when sitting for a long time, standing up from a sitting position or squeezing the tip of the coccyx. This disease is more common in women.

The cause of the disease is mostly trauma, such as contusion, fracture, dislocation, etc. It is common in cases of falls, landing on the buttocks, hitting the corners of furniture, local trauma, or injuries during delivery. Repeated minor injuries can cause adhesion or fibrosis of the tissues around the coccyx, compressing the branches of the nerve plexus near the coccyx, thereby causing neuralgia. Therefore, sometimes even if there is no obvious history of trauma, attention should still be paid. Secondly, the infection focus near the coccyx is drained to the pelvic muscles through the lymphatic system, causing muscle reflex spasms and pain.

Clinically, most cases occur after falling, sitting down suddenly, impact on the coccyx or pain after childbirth, and the pain is relieved when walking. When sitting, the buttocks can only be tilted to one side. If these symptoms are present, coccygeal pain should be considered. But sometimes the pain of this disease can radiate to the lower limbs and be misdiagnosed as sciatica. Long-term coccygeal pain can cause secondary neurosis. During the examination, insert a finger into the anus. If there is coccyx displacement, increased mobility, tenderness, etc., the diagnosis can be made based on the medical history. If necessary, a coccyx X-ray can be taken.