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Bruised or fracture...
 

[Closed] Bruised or fractured coccyx....

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Came off yesterday due to the world's stupidest accident - riding down a drop/chute that I've done many times and some arsehat had hung a rope swing from a tree right on the line. Somehow the rope caught my handlebar and flipped me off the bike. I landed flat on my back from about a 6ft height.

I managed to cycle (very slowly, a with lots of pushing) the 3 miles back to the car, but now I can hardly move, and sitting or walking is agony.

I'm going to go to the medical centre tomorrow first thing, hopefully they can tell whether it's just bruising or more serious. Also, they can prescribe me some nice painkillers.

Has anyone else done similar, and how long was the recovery time?


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 12:34 pm
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Cracked coccyx snowboarding at glenshee years ago, 3 months of sleeping on my belly. Could ride after two but was still pretty sore.


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 1:26 pm
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that sounds horrible ajantom.. where's the dodgy line and the rope swing that flipped you off..?

let us know how you get on..?


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 1:29 pm
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I had mine broken after a big forward came charging from behind in a rugby match.

I got a piles cushion from the hospital as it was end of semester time and lots of sitting to be done ๐Ÿ™

I think I was back on my bike within 3 weeks and 100% in 5.

Hopefully just bruised!


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 1:33 pm
 Twin
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Fractured coccyx here, took 2 months before I could ride the bike again, it's 5 months since I did it and it still gets sore after riding or if I'm parked on it for any length of time (long car journeys, cinema).


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 1:37 pm
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MsD did this on a bike - panicked on a descent and instead of bailing off backwards she leapt forwards of the saddle and the nose of the saddle rammed into her bum bone!
She had to ride the 6 miles home stood up, took about six weeks to heal apparently.

Both my self and the walk in (hobble in) centre were in hysterics.. ๐Ÿ˜†

The hill is now known to us as Fanny Basher Hill!


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 2:01 pm
 chip
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I would be straight down the hospital with any suspected spinal injury.

I crashed a motorbike and fractured my spine resulting in 10 days flat on my back in hospital then released with a brace for a month.

Also have a friend who's a sparks, whilst once on site walked into a room where some clown had decided to cover a large hole in the floor with a sheet of plasterboard for whatever reason.
Friend fell through and landed on his arse on the floor below resulting in a crushed disk and now has the two vertebrae fused togeather.


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 2:03 pm
 Drac
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Get to a Minor Injuries Unit or Walk in Centre now even an A&E if you have none near by don't put off a suspected fractured coccyx until tomorrow as there's a risk it's your pelvis.


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 2:05 pm
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that sounds horrible ajantom.. where's the dodgy line and the rope swing that flipped you off..?

let us know how you get on..?

Up on Woodbury, at the bombholes/jumps up on the Exmouth side. There is a drop in that just goes to the bottom, and there was a rope swing there before, but about 5/10ft to the left of the line. For some reason it's been re-hung right on the drop in line. When I'm better I'm going up with a saw and taking it down ๐Ÿ‘ฟ
It was a proper 1 in 1000 chance, I guess that most times the rope would've just been knocked to one side rather than catching the bars.

Fingers crossed it's just bruising....will see what the doctor has to say in the morning.

Also means I have to write a load of cover lessons for work. It's more hassle being ill as a teacher than going in! But there's no way I'd be safe in a DT workshop like this ๐Ÿ™


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 2:10 pm
 DanW
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Got to echo Drac and say get down to A&E to have it checked out properly. If you plan on seeing your GP tomorrow then they will be able to see and do far less for you than A&E or similar. Basically a trip to the GP is a wasted trip.

I bruised my coccyx making a poor job of dropping in a 6ft quarter pipe back in the day- bloody painful for about 3 weeks even walking!


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 6:22 pm
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Ouch, think you might get better treatment at a local minor injuries or AE. There are cleverer people here than me in that respect but I would think GP will give you pain killers, if you can get an appointment. With a little luck AE will be quiet on a Sunday night.


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 6:52 pm
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I cracked mine about 7 years ago falling off some board walk and landing on the nose of my saddle. It took a couple of weeks before I could sit without serious pain, 6 months for the constant ache to go but I still notice it if I'm sat on a hard surface for more than about 10 minutes. Strangely enough riding wasn't a problem as my saddle seemed to take nearly all the pressure off it.


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 7:02 pm
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Thanks for the advice, I can't really get to the MIU or A&E as my other half is away today. Believe me if I thought I had done myself a serious spinal or pelvic injury I'd ring an ambulance.

I rang the out-of-hours GP service and they said to continue taking Ibuprofen and alternating between ice packs and hot water bottles (helping the swelling and stiffness) He said that if there was any change, i.e. numbness in legs or back, increased swelling, etc. to call an ambulance, but that currently it sounds like I've badly bruised the area.
Still bloody hurts, and annoyed that I'll be off the bike ๐Ÿ˜ก


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 7:31 pm
 Drac
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Believe me if I thought I had done myself a serious spinal or pelvic injury I'd ring an ambulance.

What? You've been walking since yesterday but you'd consider ringing 999 today? ๐Ÿ˜


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 7:36 pm
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I would head for a specialist who I was referred to by my GP, if you have private healthcare use it as the NHS can't afford to take it as seriously as they could. I had a nasty landing that was an arse / seat impact. It damaged mine, took a long time to heal and was pretty uncomfortable for around a year, especially sitting in the office. Eventually I had a series of steroid injections direct into the surrounding tissues using ultrasound to target the right areas (that wasn't fun) and that fixed it. Coccyx damage can be bad and because of where it is takes ages to fix.


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 7:39 pm
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Sorry, I meant that if I'd thought that yesterday, I would have rung an ambulance.
The fact that I was able to ride and walk back to the car led me to believe it wasn't life threatening. The main problem is that it's really stiffened up since then.


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 7:40 pm
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I did mine showing my son how easy it was to manual his 12" wheel bike (he's 3). Turns out it's not easy at all...

It took about three weeks before I could get on a bike (about the same time it took my wife to stop laughing), but I couldn't put any power on when I pedalled for about 7 weeks. Very frustrating.


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 7:47 pm
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Cracked mine in two during a rugby match - the opposing Centre came down on me knee first.

About 6 months before doing anything without some kind of pain.


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 8:07 pm
 Drac
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Sorry, I meant that if I'd thought that yesterday, I would have rung an ambulance.

Ah Ok. Did think it was odd but you'd be amazed who long after an injury people ring an ambulance.

I would head for a specialist who I was referred to by my GP, if you have private healthcare use it as the NHS can't afford to take it as seriously as they could.

What a load of bollocks if they deem it necessary they will sort what ever treatment is needed regardless of cost they won't do unnecessary treatments to get money from an insurance policy.


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 8:25 pm
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OK Drac that's nice. My experience of the NHS is obviously very different from yours. After a few months of pretty much constant pain and trips to the doctor to try and boost my way up the waiting list I got a private referral to the very same NHS specialist I was waiting for, within a month I was all sorted. It is what it is, the NHS isn't great with chronic pain or mental health.


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 9:01 pm
 Drac
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So the patients I see daily on Codeine, NSAIDS and had several ops to help with various pain relief all went private?


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 9:15 pm
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I don't know if they did, should I? They may well have but I found the wait time unacceptable so I swerved it. Isn't it logical to use private health insurance if you have it, I don't understand your position here, you said "if they deem it necessary" they obviously didn't in my case but my arse said otherwise.


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 9:24 pm
 Drac
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Yeah but it turns you didn't wait to see the specialist to find out what they would do, you used private healthcare to see the same guy quicker. That's not the same as them not taking it seriously, the NHS is overloaded so sadly queue times are long. At a guess they deemed that your condition wasn't going to get worse so sent home to wait with painkillers, can't be nice for you but someone else would be a priority so they go first.

I was found with a bone tumour in my Right thigh when I was 18 I had X-rays done that day and a rapid appointment at MRI unit the next day, 5 days after that I was having it taken out. It possibly meant someone got pushed back waiting for a hip replacement sitting in pain for a bit longer but I'm happy to think they'd see my need as greater.


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 9:32 pm
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I think that was my point? I was non urgent so it was a long wait.

When I smashed my head up biking and had a concussion bad enough that I forgot my own name the A&E department at the local hospital were amazing, no holds barred and immediate care. I always suggest people go private if asked, at least then more needy people can have their place.


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 9:36 pm
 Drac
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Sorry I get defensive about the NHS having worked for them for years and for what they've done for my family over the years, it was the can't afford bit which was annoying. It read like they won't do anything because of the cost which is bollocks, sorry of I misread your post.


 
Posted : 01/12/2013 9:40 pm
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I cracked mine a couple of years ago after deciding to try out this "manualling" thing on a fireroad at glentress, it ended about as well as you might expect. It hurt like a mother****** for a fairly long time but wasn't outright debilitating after the first week or so, functionally I've had worse bruises. But that's not to say it wasn't very unpleasant, cut right back on my riding for a good few weeks as it just wasn't worth it, and was still troublesome for a couple of months. The fix was "wait, and don't whack it off anything else, you dick".


 
Posted : 02/12/2013 12:30 am
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No worries it did look like that upon re-reading.


 
Posted : 02/12/2013 12:42 am
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It hurt like a mother****** .............. functionally I've had worse bruises..........The fix was "wait, and don't whack it off anything else, you dick".

Seems to be the consensus so far.

Currently I'm finding lying on my front or side and not jarring my 'upper-buttock' area the best course of action. When I do move around I walk like a 90 year old who's pooed his pants ๐Ÿ˜†


 
Posted : 02/12/2013 8:38 am
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Mashed mine snowboarding six years ago , still get occasional pain now, Google it the good news is some people still in pain 25 years later!!!


 
Posted : 02/12/2013 10:13 am
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do they still do 'quality of life assessments' to help decide which cases to prioritise Drac..?


 
Posted : 02/12/2013 10:21 am
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I did mine several years ago when I used to ride trials. The pressure and swelling in the area also caused a pilonidal abcess which got quite big in the end and took me two years to get fixed properly after having a quite big hole cut in my back.


 
Posted : 02/12/2013 10:50 am
 Drac
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Yeah I think so Yunki least they did for my Bro transplant.


 
Posted : 02/12/2013 3:37 pm
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Hey Tom, sorry to hear about your fall.

I hope it's just bruises and nothing is broken.

Neil M


 
Posted : 02/12/2013 4:00 pm
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Was cutting the hedge a couple of years ago and the step ladders went over. I landed ass-bone first on top of the fallen ladder.

My tail bone hurt like a bastard for a couple of weeks then grumbled on for about 3 months.

You have my sympathy.


 
Posted : 02/12/2013 4:55 pm