Broken coxis

[Sho]

I broke my coxis (the small bone right below the spinal cord) approximately six years ago. It has bothered me since then when excecuting low stances and twists in the air. So I am asking that is there any complete cure for this? I would probably even be ready for operation if necessary. However, I would definitely prefer natural treatment instead. Has anyone had similar problems and got it healed from pain. The broken bone doesn't affect in any other way than pain when doing specific movements - it's just a small useless bone.

[Sharky]

No bone is useless or it wouldn't be there.

Ask your doctor man, how are we supposed to know.

[Sho]

Well, you know what I mean so let's not get cheeky. There are body parts which are no longer used by human beings, such as the appendix which was, according to the evolution theory, used for different purposes which are no longer used. I will call my doctor when it's necessary, but I just wanted to know if there is someone who knows about this on the forum.

[inic]

Evolution.... HA! Joke of all time. Go study some more. There are a lot of things about the human body that science doesnt know about yet. they are just to prideful to admit it, so they just come up with "it has no use anymore"

[Sho]

Evolution is a theory, so please don't make a big fuss about it. What's all this flaming anyway?

[GLW]

This is a common injury that most people, to their detriment, ignore. It can actually be dangerous to your spinal and spinal cord health...and can cause things like RSD with extreme injuries.

If it has been several years, you may have one or two options....one may be that the cause of the pain is scar tissue. Breaking that up after a long time may or may not be possible and no matter what, will be painful.

It could be that small bone fragments are lodged permanently in a place such that those movements case them to hit nerves causing pain. This may or may not be treatable. Most doctors would take the attitude "Doctor, it hurts when I do this..." "Well, don't do that" because the risks of removing things next to the spinal cord can be great.

An option may be to find a GOOD doctor of Chinese medicine who knows Chinese orthopedics and traumatology...hard to do outside of places like Shanghai...but there may be treatments that such a person can offer.

Bottom line, if it bothers you, see a doctor. It could also be a case of inflamation and go away with acupuncture or cortisone treatments pretty quickly.

[dnc101]

I've recently been undergoing physical therapy for some of my stupidity (you'd think after forty some odd years of livin' I'd know when to quit), and I came across a procedure which may or may not cure, but I guarantee it will help. It is called myofacial release.

When ever your body suffers trauma the myofascia binds down on the muscles in that area and can exert a tremendous ammount of pull on your structural components. The therapy releases this binding and relieves that pressure. It also allows the muscles to move more freely. In my case, this relieved several problems that doctors and chiropractors have tried and failed to correct. Some of these injuries occured over twenty years ago. As a side bennifit my flexability has improved dramatically, and I'm a lot looser when I work out and spar. I highly recomend you try it, as well as anyone who has had significant trauma at any time in their lives. But make sure you get someone who knows what they are doing, and who has the strength and endurance to do it right- it can take a lot of both on the therapists part. You get to just lay there and relax, but it sometimes hurts like *#@!.

[monkey mind]

I am a massage therapist with some training in myofascial release. I agree that this is a very effective technique for dealing with some chronic pain issues, but I think more information from Sho would help determine if myofascial work is called for here: Where exactly do you feel pain? If it's right at the bone, then I don't think that myofascial work would be all that helpful (I'm travelling & don't have access to my anatomy references but I don't think there are any muscles that attach to the coccyx). When you broke it, was the bone set by a doctor? Does direct pressure on the coccyx cause pain? I have heard of chiropractors doing coccygeal adjustments, but this is a fairly, ahem, intrusive technique. Not something I'd get done without really knowing & trusting the doctor first. The bottom line (forgive the pun) is that for pain coming directly from the coccyx, I think soft tissue treatment wouldn't help all that much. If the pain is in the surrounding tissue, then definitely give myofiascial therapy a try.

[IronFist]

I was always told that the appendix used to be used to digest raw meat, but since we don't eat raw meat anymore we don't need it. People who have their appendixes <sp> removed have no problems (as far as I know) with daily life, so it's probably not that important.

You know what else kind of has no purpose as far as I know? Butt hair :eek:

IronFist

[Sho]

Thank you for all your responses.


Originally posted by monkey mind
Where exactly do you feel pain? When you broke it, was the bone set by a doctor? Does direct pressure on the coccyx cause pain?The exact location of pain is a bit difficult to tell, but it seems to be just right above the coccyx (thanks for the correct spelling). When it was broken, it wasn't set by a doctor. I wouldn't say direct pressure on the coccyx, but a certain spot around that area hurts when pressed - not too much though. And another thing I have noticed is that when I sit for a while in the same position or pressure on the same area, the pain increases when those movements are done. So normally when I'm not doing anything, it does not cause any pain.