Pain in the tailbone certainly causes discomfort and interferes with daily activities, especially when sitting. This condition can arise as a result of injury to the tailbone or certain diseases. However, pain in the tailbone can sometimes appear suddenly without a known cause.
Around the coccyx are many muscles, ligaments, and nerves. This bone, which is located at the lower end of the spine, serves to support the body's weight and maintain posture when sitting.
When your tailbone is affected, there can be constant pain in this area and it gets worse when you sit down or make certain movements.
Pain can also arise when you stand for too long, get up from a seat, defecate, have sex, and during menstruation. This pain can radiate to the hips, buttocks, and legs.
Some Causes of Pain in the Tailbone
Pain in the tailbone is also called coccydynia or coccygodynia and can be caused by the following conditions:
1. Tailbone injury
Injuries to the lower back are the most common cause of tailbone pain. This condition is characterized by bruising, cracking, breaking, or shifting of the tailbone. Tailbone injuries can be triggered or caused by:
- Fall in a sitting position.
- Activities that put repetitive pressure or friction on the tailbone for long periods of time, such as cycling, riding, or riding a motorbike on bumpy roads.
- Sitting too long on a hard surface.
2. Normal delivery
Normal labor that lasts a long time or is accompanied by complications that requires the help of forceps causes the baby's head to press on the top of the mother's tailbone. This can cause the mother's tailbone to become painful after delivery.
The appearance of this pain can be caused by an injury to the tailbone or the surrounding ligaments and muscles. In severe cases, the injury can even lead to a fracture or displacement of the tailbone.
3. Degenerative joint disease
Joint disease or joint conditions that weaken due to aging or repetitive movements can cause pain in the tailbone. Some examples of joint diseases that can cause this complaint are: osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
4. Tailbone deformity
The coccyx is made up of 3-5 small bones in the lower back. However, if the number of small bones is more than 5 or there is calcification of the coccyx, there may be pain in this area when sitting, due to pressure or irritation of the surrounding nerve tissue.
5. Coccyx nerve disorders
At the top of the coccyx is a collection of nerves that can receive pain stimuli. If the nerve is irritated, inflamed, or injured, there will be pain in the tailbone that can last a long time.
One of the diseases of the spinal cord that can cause pain in the coccyx is a pinched nerve or HNP.
6. The habit of sitting too long
Sitting in an improper position for long periods of time can put a lot of pressure on the tailbone. This can cause pain that will get worse when you sit for too long.
7. Overweight or underweight
Being overweight or obese can put excessive pressure on the tailbone, especially when you sit down. Meanwhile, if you are too thin, there is not enough fat pads in the buttocks to prevent the tailbone from rubbing against the surrounding tissue.
8. Age
As you age, the cartilage that helps hold the tailbone together will become more and more brittle. In addition, the bones that make up the coccyx are getting closer together. This condition can put more pressure on the tailbone and cause pain.
In addition to some of the causes above, sometimes the appearance of pain in the coccyx can also be caused by infection, pilonidal cysts, or tumors that have spread to the coccyx. However, tailbone pain can also not be clearly known what causes it.
How to Relieve Pain in the Tailbone
To determine the cause of pain in the tailbone, it is necessary to have an examination by a doctor. To assess how severe the disorder is and find out what causes it, the doctor will perform various examinations, such as X-rays, CT-scans, or MRIs of the tailbone.
Once the cause is known, the new doctor can provide appropriate treatment. However, in general, doctors will recommend the following treatments to relieve pain in the tailbone:
- Compress the tailbone area with cold and warm compresses alternately for 10-15 minutes. Do it several times a day.
- Sit on a donut-shaped pillow or lean forward. The use of a donut pillow and sitting position like this can reduce pressure on the tailbone so that the pain can be reduced.
- Give a gentle massage in the area around the tailbone. Avoid massaging the tailbone too vigorously or rubbing your back, as this can make the pain worse.
- Perform physiotherapy on the tailbone.
- Take pain relievers prescribed by a doctor, if the pain in the tailbone does not improve or is quite severe. Pain relievers that can be used include ibuprofen, paracetamol, or muscle relaxants.
If the steps above are not effective in relieving pain in the tailbone or the condition of the tailbone is severe enough, your doctor may recommend tailbone surgery.
Mild tailbone pain usually goes away on its own in a few days. However, if you experience numbness, paralysis or weakness in one or both legs, or the pain is very severe, you should immediately consult a doctor.