My coccyx pain story

Anonymous, Bangalore, India

Posted 2018-09-30

Writing my first Review/Feedback/Story, hope it will be helpful.

I was suffering from Coccyx pain for almost 1 year (I don't remember any fall on coccyx) and tried many orthopedic doctors, tried all the possible options (except resting, see suggestions below) but could not get rid of the pain completely. After reading many reviews from Doctors and specialists in India I had decided to visit Dr. Rajveer Singh to understand why I am experiencing this pain and how to get rid of it. At first, he had asked me to take Dynamic X-ray to see any fracture/miss alignment of coccyx. After seeing the x-ray Dr. Rajveer Singh told me that I have an anterior coccyx and need to go through Manipulation for 6-7 days which is of cost 35,000 rupees. At first I was surprised of the cost and after thinking that I have been going through such pain I finally decided to go for it.

During the treatment he had thought me exercises, post every day exercises the Manipulation process and then ultrasound to lower back area. After 6 sessions of manipulation he had asked me to continue the exercise everyday for 1 month and suggested to visit him for a review.

As per him I continued those exercises everyday for around 1 month, even though I didn't find much relief I had no option to continue as suggested. After a month I visited him, explained him that I still have the same pain that I was going through a month back even after practising those exercises and asked him that do I need a MRI scan to see if anything major. He said no need of any MRI scan the condition is not that bad and he then suggested me to go through another 3-4 days session of Manipulation (thank god this time it's only 7K). Painfully completed second session.

After 4 months of every day exercises (that he had thought) and resting I was feeling a little better but not completely recovered. I called Dr. Rajveer Singh and explained, he then asked me to visit his center to see if he need to do one more session of Manipulation. By then I had lost hope in Manipulation Guru (Dr. Rajveer Singh).

After 5 months I was feeling a lot better but still not completely fine. I then decided to take an MRI scan and visited a nearby Ortho (Dr. Balasubramanyam PR) for MRI prescription, during the visit I had explained everything that happened so far. The Ortho first saw the Dynamic X-ray (that was taken in the first visit of Dr. Rajveer Singh) and told me that this is how the normal Coccyx will be, you do not have any Anterior Coccyx. Since I went through Manipulation process he suggested me to take an MRI scan (which is also what I wanted and reason to visit this Ortho) to see if there are any issue occurred after manipulation.

The MRI report said everything is normal (thank god) and the ortho suggest me to continue the normal life, forget the pain and he had prescribed some painkiller if I experience too much pain. I hope I will be normal in couple of weeks (at max months) with resting and everyday exercises.

Suggestions if you are suffering from Coccyx:

1. Rest as much as you can (try not to put more pressure on coccyx area), might take more than 6 months to completely recover.

2. Exercise daily your abs and Gluteal Region (You can learn from youtube / learn from yoga trainer)

3. First try MRI Scan to see if you have any Anterior/posterior coccyx which will be clearly mentioned in MRI Report (I regret that I should have done it before visiting Dr. Rajveer Singh)

3. Physiotherapists are not Doctors (take opinions from Orthos/spine surgeons on the Xray/MRI Report)

4. Never fall for Dr Rajveer Singh's stories (one story which he will tell to every patient is his heart operation story to create sympathy)

5. Never go through Manipulation process (I feel he had worsen my coccyx pain), unless you have dislocated your coccyx and you have been suggested by Orthopedic/spine surgeons.

Thanks and I wish a speedy recovery to all Tail Bone Pain Patients.

Note from Jon Miles:

I have to disagree with this patient about the usefulness of dynamic x-rays versus MRI scans. The purpose of the dynamic x-ray is to show any movement of the coccyx caused by sitting, by comparing sitting and standing x-rays. It is a very useful diagnostic tool. MRI scans, like standard x-rays, show the position of the coccyx when you are not sitting, and so cannot show any change caused by sitting down. The dynamic x-ray was first introduced by Dr Maigne in France, and is now widely used around the world for diagnosis in the case of coccyx pain.

I would also caution that you need to be careful about using drugs to dull the pain - see Drugs and diet.

Note from Jon Miles:

I emailed more than a year after this story was posted, to ask for an update, as the long-term outcome of treatment is of great interest. In this case I did not get a reply.