Lower back/ Coccyx pain.

Afternoon all.

I’m unsure whether these two incidents are related, but I badly hurt my Coccyx Jan/Feb 2013 when out sledging with mates, after landing hard on my a*rse! Basically I could hardly sit, never-mind train in the gym or ride my bike for about 3/4 months. I eventually got back into both with minor discomfort for a few days if I squatted too deep in the gym of put too much pressure on the saddle while out riding, but the pain seemed to dissipate after a couple of days.

Now to the problem… me and my friends have recently gotten into walking/ hiking a fair bit more than we used to, and are in training to do the 3 peaks, I’ve found when walking uphill (which tend to be fairly steep!) that I get a sort of muscle ache in my lower back, which has today developed into a Coccyx pain again.

Unsure if this could be due to pack positioning on my back, poor posture, weak core or something else?

If anyone has any experience or insight into this I’d be keen to discuss this further. I cannot carry on in agony like this, I’m only 25 and terrified of this becoming a lifelong ailment, as my father also has trouble with back pain from incorrect lifting when he was a young. Would it be worthwhile paying to go see an Osteopath or similar or is that just waste of time/money?

Sorry for the long and rambling post, thankyou in advance for any responses.

Ben.

Would it be worthwhile paying to go see an Osteopath or similar or is that just waste of time/money?

I’m only 25 and terrified of this becoming a lifelong ailment

Did you get it looked at by a medic when you first hurt yourself? 3 to 4 months pain seems a lot.

To be honest no, as I initially thought it was just bruised, or that I’d ‘bruised the bone’.

I now think I may have possibly fractured it rather than caused minor damage, but the doctors couldn’t do much if it was fractured anyway could they? It’s hardly pottable!

It wasn’t complete agony all the time when I first hurt it, just if I sat on a saddle or anything applying direct pressure, even slouching on the sofa for too long, so I just battled through it.

Step one, see a doctor get real advice, the doc may refer you on to someone else. Something “might” just need cracking back into it’s correct place.

Could be an issue with your rucksack, how it’s packed and how much weight. You should be able to “fit” it to your body, or get down to a proper outdoor equipment and get measured up for one that fits.
Walking poles might help you out as well in comfort and less strain on the lower back.

I belive i cracked my Coccyx, cartwheeled a bike, it landed on me, barend tip first, right up the ringer, battered me sack as well, took a few minutes to crawl to safety and try to sit up….. couple of months of discomfort, then ok.
Changed jobs and after a year of driving was getting pain in lower back and coccyx.
Went to docs. Got offered my pick of painkillers. Rather than live on painkillers i changed job.
From memory i think the condition is called Coccyxadenia or Coccyxaphenia. Doctor explained that a lot of nerve endings are tied up in the spine and Coccyx, so in short no one wants to open you up and do any work as it could do more damage. Choices are painkillers or adjust lifestyle to work around the condition.

I get lower pains if i sit on my arse too long, so being a desk jockey is out 🙂 long drives in the car can be a pain too.
I adjusted to work around it, haven’t needed painkillers, but discomfort passes soon. Hasn’t really affected me too much.

I was told that x-rays don’t always show up minor damage as there is a lot going on in that area so hairline cracks can be missed. Maybe x-ray technology has improved, or an MRI will highlight any issues.

It could be as simple as needing your sacroiliac joint manipulated, which any physio can do. You’ll walk out feeling like a new man.

Or it could be a displacement of one of your vertebra. Any numbness and tingling or sciatica in your legs or feet?

See GP and get a scan.

I do a fair bit of sitting driving about, I wonder if that is exacerbating the problem..

It could be as simple as needing your sacroiliac joint manipulated

Ahem, pardon!? Haha. No, no numbness in my legs or feet, just this occasional pain when I overdo it at the gym or go on fairly hard, steep walks.

Looks like I’ll be ringing the GP in the morning, although they’re usually fairly useless!

I started with mild discomfort, used a cushion, sorted it for a while then it got worse, if i stop for a walkabout every couple of hours on long drives then it’s manageable and not lasting.
Sitting on a hard/firm surface for hours on end could be inflaming things, wheelbarrow tyre inner tube makes a cheap donut cushion, might help your broken arse pain a bit 🙂

The constant pressure on my Coccyx from driving got me to the point of it’s now painkillers or change.
After changing lifestyle it took a few weeks to get back to normal, been alright, get the odd twinge now and then.

On a lighter note, also turned up years ago a variation of the problem known as “Jeep Bottom” 🙂 bought on by driving jeep’s across deserts, the constant battering gives similar symptoms, extreme cases reported a small hole appearing in the skin near the base of the spine, from constant rubbing.

Speak to a Doc. Also taking notes on other advice on here.

I had a similar injury to my Coccyx a few years ago. Various things caused the pain to return so in the end after a year or so I had a number of corticosteroid injections around my coccyx under ultrasound. Completely sorted it.

I’m hoping either some manipulation or something can be done to sort the problem once and for all. I’m open to more Cortazone, as I had this for my knee, although it didn’t help in that instance.

Its not actually been that serious a problem when driving as to need a special cushion, I was just stating a few of the things that caused discomfort at the time of the original injury.

I will seriously try to get to the GP this week, so he can ‘refer’ me to someone else in about 6 weeks no doubt!

Mrs Gti was an area sales manager so she was spending long hours in the car, especially on the M6 in Cheshire. She suffered with lower back pain for years then about six months ago, began to suffer severe pain in her gluteal area, bad enough to make sitting impossible. She resigned from her job because she couldn’t drive and she hasn’t actually sat down now for six months. Initially this was diagnosed as ischiogluteal bursitis, what used to be known as “weaver’s bottom”, inflammation of the bursa that surround the pelvic bones on which we sit. She had steroid injections but there was no improvement. Eventually I took her to a consultant and asked for a scan of her pelvis and lower spine, which revealed the probable cause. With Mrs Gti’s permission, here’s the MRI scan of her lower spine:

The discs between the vertebrae are all well hydrated and healthy but the very last disc, at the joint where the spine meets the sacrum, is compressed and slightly forward out of line. Not enough to put pressure on her spinal cord but enough to cause her bad back pain. This is called spondylolisthesis, which means misplacement of the spine. The gluteal pain is thought to be referred pain from the spinal problem. There’s nothing that can be done to treat it and she has to just wait until it gets better on its own. At least now we know what the problem is though.

Moral of the story? Get an MRI scan.

Joolsburger, did you see a specialist to get the corticosteroid injection. Possibly got something similar but my GP doesn’t know who best to refer me to yet.

I did. My GP referred me to a private specialist at the New Vic in Kingston but he also worked NHS cases, I just didn’t have to wait.

OP…get yourself checked out.
i had a similar experience when i messed up a 6 foot jump on the bike about 14 years ago. bike shot out from under me on landing and i landed on my arse.
i found sitting and walking very painful so i went to see the doctor who referred me to see a physio and get a scan. the scan revealed that me L4 and L5 vertebrae had been compressed and that i would nee traction treatment too. over 6 months of traction treatment was needed before it finally got to the point where i could walk and sit without and pain and discomfort.
i was 23 when it happened…