this is probably TMI I know, but has anyone broken a tailbone?

[disykat]

Sorry, but I thought I might get some advice here. I was walking the dog this morning and slipped on a grassy slope. I fell hard, flat on my back, and felt a huge jolt in my tailbone region.

It's not horrible, mainly when I move to stand up or sit down etc. -so I don't know if I just bruised something or if I maybe have a break. It's not bad enough to need pain killer so I'd feel kind of silly going in to the Dr. just to be told to sit on a pillow!

Anyone know anything about broken tailbones? I'm still hoping I'm just sore for a day or two, but I guess I want to know what to expect if it is broken.

Maybe if anyone has any info they can just say "I had a friend who..."

 

[December99]

A friend of mine DID break her tailbone sledding one year - hit a hard area and flew up in the air and landed down on another hard area - right on her tailbone. The only thing that can be done is she had to go get one of those "donut" rings to sit on. My mom had a cyst removed from there once and same thing - had to sit on the donut.

But the broken tailbone she said she was in alot of pain but not enough for a pain pill. As long as you called your doc I would think they would have covered it.

 

[poohandwendy]

Sorry to hear his, what a pain in the rear!!!

Ibroke mine when I was 13, my mother and I were horsing around, she pushed me away and I fell on one of those round, brass utility valves that stick out of the ground a few inches...holy cow...ouch!!!

Ironically, she says I broke her tailbone when she was giving birth to me...so I guess we are even, LOL.

It can be painful for a few months when you sit and while walking/standing for a long time. I still feel it every once in a great moon, but it definitely isn't a real problem. There is nothing they can really do for you unless it shatters, I think, and then I think they sometimes remove the pieces...but I don't know anyone who had this done. I went to the ER and they gave me pain killers and the infamous 'donut'...

Try a anti-inflammatory, like Ibuprofen, if you can reduce the swelling of the tissue surrounding the TB, that probably will help.

 

[caitycaity]

oh my goodness -- you are going to think i am making this up, but i swear it is totally true!!!

i used to horseback ride -- actually i did for 11 years. i also trained younger horses. as you can imagine, while "training" i used to fall off a lot. i fell off more times than i can ever remember in those 11 years...but i digress...

i have broken my tailbone 5 times (all horse related except for 1). there is nothing the doctor can really do about it except the donut, which i gave up on after the first 2 times b/c it didn't even really help that much, and to tell you to take otc pain medication. i am not sure if it is b/c i broke it so many times or if it is par for the course after breaking it only once, but mine hurts whenever i am sitting on a hard floor or hard chair and i lean back. whenever i sit on the floor for a long period of time i have to have a pillow and sometimes that doesn't even help. lying on a hard floor (even one with a thin carpet) hurts a lot too.

the fact that i have broken my tailbone 5 times has earned me the nickname "t-bone" among some of my friends.

 

[Grog]

From what you describe it sounds like a deep bruise ( I had the same thing a few months ago and that was what the Doctor told me it probably was). I was riding in the back of a large truck, sitting on the floor, when the driver hit a deep pothole. The floor went down and I followed just as the floor was coming back up. It hurt so bad I wanted to scream. It took about a month to heal.

 

[disykat]

Thanks for the info and sympathy. It's getting worse so I guess it's not going to just go away like I hoped. I'm glad I wasn't supposed to work today - the only place I've gone is to get Ibuprofen!

Ten days until we leave on vacation.... this should make all that driving lots of fun.

 

[suzannen]

I haven't had one, but a very close friend broke hers during the pushing stage of childbirth. As others have said, other than the "Donut" and things like Ibuprofen, there wasn't much to be done. It took about 6 months before she stopped having pain sitting down and getting up from chairs.

Sorry you're in pain!

 

[Micca]

I have never broken mine, but have bruised it a time or two. Hurts BAD

 

[LuvN~Travel]

Hey PoohandWendy, I also broke my mom's tailbone when I was born. Rough kids weren't we?
Kim

 

[autochick]

I broke mine four years ago. I was ona school bus in the last seat we went over a bump and I landed on the floor.

I hurt so bad and we still had over an hour ride back to the school then the teachers and the bus driver decided to stop at Burger King before returning to the school. so needless to say I was a little mad.

I still to this day have trouble sitting on hard surfaces for any length of time.

I hope you feel better soon

 

[Serena]

I don't know what I did to mine last winter, but oh man, it did hurt for a couple months. The second day it hurt so bad I took some medicine and went to bed about 8pm without dissing at all.

I hope your hurt doesn't last nearly as long.

 

[poohandwendy]

but mine hurts whenever i am sitting on a hard floor or hard chair and i lean back. whenever i sit on the floor for a long period of time i have to have a pillow and sometimes that doesn't even help. lying on a hard floor (even one with a thin carpet) hurts a lot too.

Caity,
I am the same way, especially when I sit at a certain angle on hard floors (leaning back slightly) I sometimes need help getting up! Also lying down straight on a hard floor does it. I guess I was just chalking it up to aging, but come to think of it, it is definitely the tailbone that hurts. Weird...after all these years!

Hey PoohandWendy, I also broke my mom's tailbone when I was born. Rough kids weren't we?

LOL, Kim! Mine says sometimes I'm still a pain in the rear....she should have known....

 

[KimRaye]

I have bruised my tailbone more than once. The first two times, during sledding/tobaggoning. I sat on a pillow, literally, during grammar school (7th grade) and, when I re-bruised it (8th grade), I sat on jackets AND pillows, whatever I could find. I agree with others here that say it isn't the actual sitting but, it's the getting up or sitting down movement that hurts the most. I still get this sensitivety after sitting for long periods on my rear end! And, this is 27 years later. Whether it's a bruise, sprain, whatever, it takes time...a long time!

Sorry about that!

 

[MICKEY88]

did you land flat on your back or come down on your tailbone...? I'd see a Dr. in case it's actually a lower back injury...

 

[Pin Wizard]

A month or so ago I slipped and killed mine. I was outside with the pups, chased a buffo frog away from the door with water from the hose. Proceeded to come in the house with wet feet. Reached to get the pup's leash off since he was tugging in the opposite direction. Being that I have a tile floor, my we feet slipped out from under me. All I could think was to NOT land on my knee that I had arthroscopic surgery on several years back, so the landing was on the tail. Youch! For weeks it hurt to sit, change position, get up, sneeze, and cough! Now I can feel it when I sit on a pretty hard chair or sit on anything for too long. But it is better than it was!

 

[Princess_Aurora]

I broke mine falling down the concreet steps on my old front porch! I don't know how I slipped, but I was holding my DD (she was only 4weeks old at the time!) and before I knew it my feet just flew up in the air. I knew I had to protect DD so my butt was the first thing to hit (and to make matters worse, I hit the step right on the edge, so it wasn't a flat surface I fell on) Then my mom and sister came running over (I thought to help me up) and both went to grab DD away from me to make sure she was okay. HELLO! She was just fine because I broke her fall...she didn't even make a peep. After they spent a couple of minutes checking her out they realized I was still on my butt and my mom came over to help me up.

The way mine broke makes it VERY uncomfortable for me to sit on hard surfaces. The very tip of the tail bone got bent all the way in, so instead of the end of my tailbone being curved, it's more at a 90 degree angle. But there's noting that can be done to fix it so you have to live with the pain

 

[disykat]

Thanks for all the replies. Although I'm just getting around to updating again, I did read them all. It made me feel better just knowing that others have gone through it. It's kind of an embarrassing injury.

I have good news though. It is so much better today that I think I probably just bruised and will be in good shape for vacation. I'll feel it for a while, I'm sure, but it is so much better already.

 

[Poohnatic]

Originally posted by disykat
Thanks for the info and sympathy. It's getting worse so I guess it's not going to just go away like I hoped. I'm glad I wasn't supposed to work today - the only place I've gone is to get Ibuprofen!

Ten days until we leave on vacation.... this should make all that driving lots of fun.

I fractured mine once and I just thought it was a bruised hiney UNTIL I took a 9 hour road trip a week later (severe snow storm). Let me tell you that every time I sat or got up, it hurt. I had a donut for almost a month and was on some moderate painkillers for a few weeks (and I've got a high pain threshold).

DH broke his about 3 years ago...had a long commute every day via bus and rail. Our doctor gave him a note keeping him out of work for three weeks. She felt that the bus ride would aggrivate it too much!

So, if it's not feeling better before vacation, plan for lots of stops to get up and walk around. The longer you sit, the worse it will feel.

Suzanne