Seeking a cure for coccyx pain
Anita - Anita-ayen530@yahoo.com
Hi, I am 47 years old. I have suffered mysterious tailbone pain since November 2004. No recent trauma can be recalled. I did fall and landed on the ground when I was 18 years old. It was painful but only took me a week to recover. There were probably a few mild falls from skiing, roller skating etc. over the years. I remember I always had a dull pain after biking and it would resolve a few hours afterward. I quit biking when the pain did not resolve after a week about 4 years ago.
X-ray in tailbone and bone scan in pelvis were negative. MRI revealed a mild disk protrusion on L5. I went to see 2 spinal doctors and both agreed that my tailbone pain is a referred pain from the disk protrusion. I definitely disagreed with them. They only offered cortisone shots in the disk and the tailbone. I have deferred the shots until June 2005 so that I can try some manual treatments.
Treatments I have tried:
- 1 manual treatment from unlicensed therapist who told me that the ligament on the L5 was loose and that was the cause of the tailbone pain. He pulled, twisted and pressed the ligament around the L5 area. No relief but with a lot back pain and I started to have tingling and numbing sensations on my feet after the treatment. It is still not resolved as of today. I wonder whether or not he has caused more damage my L5.
- 15 times of acupuncture and 3 external massages with no relief.
- 1 internal PT with a little bit of relief but a lot of rectal and vaginal burning sensations after the treatment. Therefore, I had not yet returned to the same PT. This PT told me that my tailbone is pulled to the left.
- 5 internal adjustments by Dr. Mark Heller, chiropractor, his name is listed on the doctor's list. I have some relief (30%) from his treatment. His rectal procedure was uncomfortable but short but the external massage was painful. He told me that the top part of my tailbone was jammed to the front a bit toward the right side and thus the tailbone is being pulled to the left. That's why my bottom has been so sore. Unfortunately, he told me that my tailbone is still jammed at the 5 treatment. I had decided to stop the treatment because I have to drive 800 miles round trip to his office. After I drove the second time, my leg pains were worse. I had a very bad burning pain on my right foot. My leg pain is now back to the baseline after 2 weeks.
- I went to see Dr. Jerome Weiss, Urologist, on May 27 who is well known for treating pelvic pain. He reviewed my situation and performed both an external an internal exam through intravaginal and intrarectal methods. He concluded that there is nothing wrong with my tailbone. It flexed normally. He told me I had instead pudendal nerve entrapment causing pain in my tailbone when sitting. He think that my foot and calf pains are resulted from the nerve compression. He has recommended a series of shots i.e. cortisone around the nerve in my butt and PT.
I am now more confused than ever as I always thought that my tailbone was jammed and misaligned. Now I don't know who's right? Four diagnoses were given thus far (referred pain from L5, jammed forward and misaligned, pulled to the left, pudendal nerve entrapment). How do I know which diagnosis is correct?
Did anyone have coccyx pain was caused by pudendal nerve entrapment? Please email me and share your experience re: diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. Your feedback will be greatly appreciated!
I am desperate for a cure. I live about 25 miles south of San Francisco. Please let me know if you happen to know any good experienced providers for manual treatment in my area. I am also receptive to shots. If you have short or long term relief, I would also like to hear from you.
In light of this pain, I have been very depressed recently. I have lost weight. I lose my appetite. I cry from time to time. I can't sleep sometime. I am worried about my job. I will lose my job if I can't return in 12 weeks. I am on medical leave and this is my 7th week and I am still suffering. In fact, I have developed hip joint pains on both sides about a week ago. I don't know what has caused it. Perhaps this is resulted from the pelvic adjustment from different people or the exercises.
I greatly appreciate your feedback!
Finally, I want to thank Jon for setting up the web site and this is great for all coccyx pain sufferers.
Thanks for listening!
Anita
Note from Jon Miles
There is a test that they can do to tell the source of the pain. They inject a local anesthetic around the coccyx, and see if that stops the pain for a few hours. If it does, then it is your coccyx that is causing the problem. See Injection of local anesthetic for more details.
Updated 2005-05-29
