The coccyx is made up of three to five fused vertebrae at the base of your spine. It is commonly called the "tailbone." The coccygeal nerves, the smallest nerves in the spinal column, run through the coccyx vertebrae. There are tendons, muscles, and ligaments that connect to the tailbone.
If you suffer from lower back pain, it could be that the nerves or tissue surrounding your tailbone are being compressed or pinched.
Signs and Symptoms of Tailbone Issues
Pain is generally the first sign that something is wrong with your tailbone. At the base of your spine, where your lower back meets your buttocks, you may feel an ache, stabbing pain, or cramp-like pain. The pain may shoot up into the lower back, sideways into the hips, or down into the legs. Depending on the severity of the problem, the pain may range from mild to excruciating.
Tailbone pain may come and go for some; for others, it may be a constant, nagging pain that interferes with activity or is aggravated when sitting for too long. In more serious cases it may impede your mobility or cause numbness and tingling in the legs and/or feet.
Causes of Tailbone Pain
There are many potential causes of tailbone pain, but it generally comes down to compression or pinching of nerves, discs, and/or tissue. This may be due to a fall, accident, or other such blow to the tailbone area.
Often the pain in the tailbone begins much higher—like in the neck. The upper cervical spine is at the other end of the spine. It runs through your neck and is the most vulnerable part of the spine. Any jolt, accident, fall, injury, or even poor posture can cause a misalignment in the upper cervical spine. Once this happens, the body shifts to accommodate this misalignment, causing strain and stress on other joints, ligaments, muscles, and tendons throughout the rest of the musculoskeletal system.
Sometimes the only way to permanently address your tailbone pain is to have your upper cervical spine corrected.
How We Treat Tailbone Pain
At the Blair Chiropractic Clinic in Lubbock, Texas, we offer patients with tailbone pain a natural, non-invasive, drug-free treatment to help combat their tailbone pain. The Blair Chiropractic Technique combines state-of-the-art technology and specialized hands-on adjustments to help restore the health of the upper cervical spine, bring balance back to the musculoskeletal system, and allow the body's natural healing processes to take over.
Our Dr. Gordon Elder is a specialist in the Blair technique and has a three-part treatment plan. The first part involves a thorough health screening and 3D diagnostic imaging scans to help him more accurately assess the problem.
Dr. Elder's second step is when the healing commences. With technology allowing him a more exact assessment he can make gentle adjustments with precision to target problem areas. Once the upper cervical spine's natural alignment is restored, the body's healing mechanisms can kick into gear.
The final step, and perhaps most important for your ongoing health, is preventative care. Dr. Elder recommends regular chiropractic visits to ensure the spine remains in a healthy, aligned state.
If you have been suffering from tailbone pain, contact Dr. Elder for more information. Our areas of coverage include Lubbock, Amarillo, Midland, Odessa, Abilene, and El Paso in Texas, as well as Hobbs in New Mexico.
Published by Vic Belonogoff: A Blair Chiropractic doctor helped heal vertigo, among other conditions that Vic Belonogoff suffered from, and it gave him his life back. He continues to see an upper cervical chiropractor as a preventative measure. Vic Belonogoff is passionate about upper cervical chiropractic and how much it helps patients.