Broken tailbone? (coxis)

[Mancunian]

I am typing this from my bed where I am confined, lying face down. Last night I fell backwards off the arm of the sofa and landed heavily on my coxis. I knew straight away I had done something bad. The pain is excrutiating. I cannot stand or even get into a sitting position. My dh has to help me to the toilet and even then it's agony.

I just want to know if anyone else has experienced this. Which are the best painkillers to take? How long does this last? I don't even know what I've done. Is it possible to break your coxis?

have you been to hospital?? I do know someone who did similar, was in hospital on morphine for a week or so and needed months of treatment , pysio, pain killers etc.. if you'v enot been checked out you really should go to hospital.. back injuries are serious stuff

It certainly is possible - dh did it. Big sympathy, I know it really hurts. Sorry, can't remember what treatment he received but do go and see your GP or A&E. Or phone NHS Direct to find out which one you should consult.

I do know when my friend fell she went to A&E and was xrayed and admitted from there,

my sympathy too.. i know it was awfully painful x

btw since you are confined to bed and the internet, you might as well read up on the subject...

Mine is/was cracked but not as painful as yours but it was horrifically painful for the first week, 7 months on it is still sore. At first we assumed badly bruised but because the pain has persisted so long then it must be something more significant ie cracked.

I went to see an osteopath and it has helped a lot, he has helped move it back in to the correct place. There are 2 ways of doing this - externally or internally we mutually agreed to external manipulation which is not as affective but it was impacting my life like yours is! I managed to give myself whiplash at the same such was the force I whacked it with.....you've probably done the same.

I would take ibuprofen and codeine based painkillers, but get someone to check with the pharmacist it is okay for you to take both etc.

I really would recommend phoning around local chiropractors/osteopaths urgently in the morning and beg one of them to see you! They may insist on you needing to be xrayed first though so perhaps a trip to A&E this afternoon?

sorry "not" impacting my life

I cannot move let alone get in car. Oh this is not looking good

phone NHS direct.. 0845 46 47

I would go to A&E, even if it isn't broken they can at least give you some hefty painkillers. I have bruised mine before and that was painfuln enough, not as bad as yours though.

well unless NHS direct tell you otherwise I think it may be an ambulance trip - sorry! Try lots of painkillers to see if it will relieve the pain enough for you to get into the car and lay across the back seat to get you to A&E.

I have done, they said phone out of hours GP. Just phoned them and expecting call back. I feel so stupid and a little scared now, mainly because of the pain involved.manipulation sounds f88cking painful.

I hurt mine 2 weeks ago coming down a slide at soft play . It still hurts a bit now, usually when i'm bending or sitting.

just spoke to nurse, she is going to call me back. started crying when she asked if I could go in. Fell so stupid, a grown woman crying with pain. I've given birth fgs.

right nurse says there is nothing they can do. cocodamol and ibuprofen. it could last up to 6 weeks. I'M due on holiday in 2 weeks.

How are you today?

Very sorry to hear that you have broken your coccyx. I broke mine in a rollerblading accident (first and last time i ever did it!).

It was excruciatingly painful, but unfortunately there is not much they can do to help it get better...I just took painkillers. But I do think it would be best to have an x-ray and see what is going on - I certainly wish I had inisted on getting mine checked out properly.

After a week or two it did get a bit better, and was pretty much fine after six months, but for the first couple of months it would sort of spasm very painfully if for example, I was on the bus and it went over a bump.

I can promise you that it does get better, but I have to say that it is slow. I broke mine 15 years ago and still sit on one side on long car journeys because it aches. It also broke again when I gave birth to my ds (had epidural so couldn't feel what was happening to it) - so I would defintiely advise you to be careful if you give birth again. I found that one of those inflatable doughnut cushions (people use them to take the pressure off stitches after having a baby) was very helpful indeed for teh first few weeks.

Hope it gets better soon

Oh dear I would definitely go to A and E and get it checked if its broken. I have a broken leg at the moment and was told NOT to take nurofen, diclofenac and any other anti-inflamatories as they can stop the bone knitting back together. Am on paracetarol and tramadol instead.

Sending you healing vibes.

I feel so much for you I injured mine giving birth, it was agony for about 5 weeks but then got better and I just had to be careful how I sat. It was the worst thing about the birth.
The hospital gave me ibuprofen but I was breastfeeding at the time so not sure if they would have given me something else if I hadn't been.

I had to buy a special cushion to sit on to drive for the first 3 months of my DD's life.

If you fill a rubber glove with water and freeze you can cut of the fingers and put that next to your coccyx for a little relief.

I would get it checked out though, I was sent to physio, didn't help but you never know.
Hope you are feeling better today.

big sympathy from me- I broke mine when I was about 12 falling out of a tree

Most painful thing ever including 2 x chilbirth and fracturing most of other bones in my body since.

You need to buy a rubber ring to sit on and keep dosing up on painkillers there's not anything else they can do but obv need to check in case you've done something else.

Mine was made a bit worse after birth of dd1 and I still can't sit properly in cinemas/trains similar without fidgeting.