A tailbone injury can be very painful and slow to heal. Healing time for an injured tailbone depends on the severity of the injury. If you have a fracture, healing can take between 8 to 12 weeks. If your tailbone injury is a bruise, healing takes about 4 weeks.
What is the best treatment for tailbone injury?
Lean forward while sitting down. Sit on a doughnut-shaped pillow or wedge (V-shaped) cushion. Apply heat or ice to the affected area. Take over-the-counter pain relievers, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol, others), ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) or aspirin.
Can a doctor do anything for a bruised tailbone?
A doctor will typically recommend prescription pain medication, physical therapy, and possibly steroid injections for the treatment of more severe tailbone pain. In some cases, a person may require surgery to repair any bone or muscle damage that is causing pain.
Is walking good for tailbone injury?
Sometimes, the pain can shoot all the way down your legs. Standing or walking should relieve the pressure on your tailbone and ease discomfort.
What’s the difference between a bruised tailbone and a broken tailbone?
bruised tailbone. X-rays can also reveal if the tailbone is broken or just bruised. A fracture will usually be visible on an X-ray. Although the treatment may be the same, the recovery time is longer for a fracture than for a bruise.
Can a broken tailbone heal itself?
A broken or bruised coccyx will usually heal on its own. Physical therapy, exercises, and a special cushion can all help ease the pain and speed recovery. See your doctor if pain is severe, or if you have trouble with bowel movements or urination. Surgery is needed in fewer than 10 percent of cases.
What happens if a broken tailbone goes untreated?
When a bone fracture is untreated, it can result in either a nonunion or a delayed union. In the former case, the bone doesn’t heal at all, which means that it will remain broken. As a result, swelling, tenderness, and pain will continue to worsen over time.
Will broken tailbone heal itself?
How do I know if my tailbone pain is serious?
What are the symptoms of tailbone pain (coccydynia)?
- The symptoms of coccydynia include:
- Achy or piercing pain in the tailbone.
- More severe pain when changing from sitting to standing up.
- More severe pain when sitting for long periods of time.
- Pain during bowel movements.
- Pain during sex.
How to care for a fractured tailbone?
Rest and stop any physical activity that causes pain. The more you rest,the quicker the injury can heal.
