Symptoms and consequences of a coccyx fracture

Probably, there is not a single person who has not been injured at least once. At the same time, many people do not pay special attention to the fact that such a bruise can entail serious consequences. Therefore, the more we know about a particular pathology, the more correct our actions will be, and the result effective. In this article, we will try to cover the topic of "Symptoms and consequences of a tailbone fracture" in more detail. We hope that the proposed material will help someone to solve the difficult situation in which he found himself, allowing him to make the right decision.

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Symptoms of a Coccyx Fracture

The pathology in question may be indicated by a number of signs, having noticed which, a person should be wary and decide to visit a specialist. In this case, the symptoms that arise are quite pronounced.

The first symptoms of a coccyx fracture that occur after the injury are pain at the site of injury. At the same time, its intensity begins to increase with movement. The pain syndrome is so intense that it does not allow the victim to normally assume a sitting position.

Pain symptoms also intensify with a sudden change in body position, even with a slight cough.

In this case, minor swelling can be observed in the bruised area, which over time leads to problems with defecation. The level of swelling directly depends on the force of the fall and, accordingly, the damage.

Also, when palpating the damaged area, the doctor, and the patient himself, can observe pathological mobility of the bone process, and the pain becomes unbearable.

In case of a serious enough injury, it is difficult for the victim to get up and move independently. But even with the support of another person, it is difficult to do this. Any movement causes acute pain. It is somewhat reassuring that such severe cases are extremely rare.

In any case, if an injury has occurred and its consequences are “colored” by such symptoms, and the pain only increases, you should immediately seek help from a qualified specialist. Perhaps the patient will be lucky and will get off with only a bruise - unpleasant, but not so serious. It is better to play it safe and hear such a diagnosis than to miss the early stage of the disease and subsequently suffer from complications of the pathology in question, trying to stop the problem with great efforts.

Coccyx fracture with displacement

Trauma to the rudimentary process is a very unpleasant and painful pathology, but it is further aggravated if this injury occurs with displacement of bone tissues relative to each other.

The resulting clinical picture is aggravated by:

• The patient has difficulty moving; any movement causes him unbearable pain.
• There can be no talk of simply sitting down.

It is possible to get a coccyx fracture with displacement literally out of the blue: “slipped, fell, woke up…”. At the same time, it is simply impossible not to notice the consequences of the fall due to the severity of the symptoms.

To understand the mechanism of injury, it is worth turning a little to human anatomy. Scientists classify the coccyx as a vestigial organ of the human body, that is, one that has died out due to evolution, but has not been completely lost by humans. If we, as Darwin's theory claims, evolved from apes, then this is our past tail.

This section is located at the lower end of our spine and is the least developed part of the skeletal structure, having practically no function. The only exception to this judgment may be that it is the attachment point for a number of ligamentous and muscular tissues, including the pelvic groups.

Despite the fact that such pathology in percentage ratio with spinal fractures is quite rare, it brings numerous complications. Consequences of such disease can be problems with defecation, formation of fistulas and suppuration, and so on.

Bone tissue displacement is the most serious situation that can occur with this disease. Its consequences can be very severe and dangerous. The situation can be especially severe when a bone fragment damages the spinal cord.

At the same time, even the thought of self-medication should not arise, you can’t joke with this, as the consequences can be very dire. This diagnosis is a clear indication for hospitalization. If this is not done in a timely manner, a bone callus will begin to form at the site of the fracture, which will fix the displacement, only worsening the situation. And if with early admission of the patient, it may be possible to avoid serious surgical intervention, then an old fracture is much more difficult and expensive to stop.

Coccyx fracture without displacement

Less dangerous, but no less uncomfortable can be called a coccyx fracture without displacement. The clinical picture with such a diagnosis is determined by less pronounced symptoms, which still cause the victim a lot of uncomfortable minutes. But no matter how easier this situation may seem, you should not treat the resulting disease on your own, being embarrassed or lazy to seek help from doctors.

In most cases, such a patient is given a sick leave and prescribed conservative therapy, which is carried out on an outpatient basis. Moreover, the less time has passed since the injury, the shorter and more effective the treatment will be.

Old coccyx fracture

The situation is worse if more than five days have passed since the injury that caused the pathology in question. Having received an injury, our body, as nature intended, begins to try to restore itself on its own. After a certain period of time (this is purely individual), a bone callus begins to form at the site of the injury, which tries to replace the damaged area by connecting the crushed fragments of bone tissue.

Against the backdrop of a gradually emerging picture, doctors are stating an old coccyx fracture, which causes much more trouble for its owner and more hassle for the treating doctor. After all, uncontrolled fusion can lead to an incorrect connection of disparate parts of a once unified whole.

The patient, of course, can be lucky even with an injury without displacement, and if he did not additionally injure the affected area, being in complete rest for the first time after the incident, the restoration of integrity can occur independently and without consequences. But it is better not to risk your health and seek help from a specialist, then you can be sure that nothing bad awaits the victim in the future.

Untimely medical care and a chronic disease can lead to neuritis of the coccygeal plexus, which threatens the victim with constant pain, which intensifies when sitting on a hard surface or when standing up or sitting down.

This pathology requires an individual approach: in some cases, physical therapy and exercise therapy may be sufficient, while in others, surgical treatment may be required.

Healed coccyx fracture

A healed coccyx fracture is both good and bad. It all depends on what the X-ray shows. If there was no displacement of the process and the fusion was correct, then this is the goal of stopping the disease, in which case no negative consequences should be expected.

If, however, during a bone rupture, the fragments are displaced, or incorrect fusion occurs for some other reason, pain becomes a constant companion of the patient. This phenomenon has its own name in medicine - coccygodynia. In this situation, surgical intervention is no longer possible and the surgeon performs an operation to remove the rudimentary process.

Compression fracture of the coccyx

Compression - this term comes from the word compression (compressio), which in translation from Latin means - compression. In light of the problem considered in this article, a compression fracture of the coccyx can be called the most severe consequence of an injury of this order.

With this type of injury, by means of sharp compression of the spinal column, not only the body of the coccygeal process is injured, but also the spine itself, which, in the worst case, can be fraught with failure of the lower limbs, loss of the ability to move and, ultimately, disability and confinement to a wheelchair.

This clinical picture manifests itself when the integrity of the spine is compromised and there are deformational changes affecting the spinal cord of the victim.

In this situation, it would be a good idea to correctly assess the situation and, without touching the victim (any movement or turn can worsen the situation), call an ambulance.

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Coccyx fracture during childbirth

According to medical statistics, the most common cause of injury to the coccygeal bone is a fall on the buttocks with a direct impact on the free apex of the lower process of the spine; a less common source of pathology is a blunt blow to the outer surface of the area in question.

But there are also isolated cases of the pathology in question, which was provoked by obstetric assistance. Such a picture is observed when a newborn passes through the birth canal. The risk of getting a coccyx fracture during childbirth is especially increased for women:

1. Having a very narrow pelvis.
2. If the baby being born is very large.
3. If the woman in labor has already been diagnosed with a coccyx injury before pregnancy.

Doctors consider pain symptoms after childbirth to be normal. This postpartum phenomenon is called coccygodynia, and most often there is nothing to worry about. It will take a little time, and the young mother will forget about such an unpleasant fact. But this does not apply to the situation when a fracture has occurred. With such a clinical picture, the main thing is not to miss the disease.

It is not uncommon for pain symptoms localized in the area of interest to appear in the late stages of pregnancy. This situation is explained by the fact that shortly before birth, the fetus has already formed and has quite impressive dimensions, pressing on neighboring areas, and since in a normal state the joints of the closing part of the spine are immobile, such pressure leads to the manifestation of painful sensations. If such facts as fragility of bones and the large weight of the baby have developed, such a combination is quite capable of provoking an injury to the coccyx, and even the appearance of a crack or a complete break in it. Although, it is worth reassuring women, this occurs quite rarely and in isolated cases.

Consolidated fracture of the coccyx

Consolidated coccyx fracture – this combination of words causes some psychological stress in many patients, since it is not completely clear what it is. But if you run a search engine with the word “consolidated”, you can read that this term denotes a fused pathology that does not allow bone deformation.

Consolidation of a fault can occur in three ways.

• If rigid fixation of separated bones is observed, but when they fuse, complete restoration of bone integrity, circulatory system, and sensitivity of nerve endings is observed. In this case, bone callus is not formed.
• If, in the presence of incomplete matching of fragments, their relative mobility is also observed, this is often accompanied by a violation of blood circulation. With such a picture of the disease, we can talk about secondary fusion. In this situation, bone callus is formed, but differentiated small in size.
• If bone fragments are observed on an X-ray, they have significant mobility, accompanied by a failure in the circulatory system; in such a clinical picture, fusion is not observed.

The consolidation process itself is accomplished by layer-by-layer restoration of bone integrity. This procedure occurs due to the proliferation of specific cells of the Haversian canals, periosteum, endosteum, periosteum and connective tissues.

After five to seven days, the defective space between the fragments gradually begins to fill with structured vascular cells, osteoblasts, and fibroblasts. After the callus formation is complete, this area is distinguished by a noticeable thickening. In this case, the traumatologist distinguishes between the primary callus, which forms four to five weeks after the injury, and the secondary callus, which forms five to six weeks later.

The next stage of recovery is the reorganization of bone tissue. It can last for more than one year. During this period, osteoblasts "work" on the resorption of fragmentary parts of the bone tissue itself, as well as excess volumes of bone callus.

It should also be noted that this recovery process is longer in such categories of the population as the elderly, patients with a history of diabetes, severe exhaustion, vitamin deficiency and the period of bearing a child (in women). If we start from local causes, then the healing can be slowed down by:

• Problems with blood circulation in this area.
• The presence of multiple fractures.
• Undergoing chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
• A purulent lesion of soft tissues that is infectious in nature.
• Presence of signs of osteochondrosis.
• Heavy physical exertion.
• Excessive activity of the victim.

A symptom of delayed bone fusion is:

• Increased mobility of the affected area after a sufficient amount of time has passed.
• The appearance of pain symptoms in the area of interest.
• Failure of regenerative processes leads to the development of a pseudoarthrosis.

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Coccyx fracture and pregnancy

Conception and the period of bearing a child are a huge burden on the woman's body. Due to the growth of the fetus, there is an increase in compression on the internal organs of the expectant mother. At the same time, if a woman does not fully replenish her mineral and vitamin reserves, the process of demineralization of bone tissue can be activated, leading to its increased fragility. These two components are enough to cause deformation, and in a more unfavorable combination of factors, an even less pleasant pathology. The good news is that such a combination of diagnoses is rarely diagnosed.

Therefore, in no case should one equate two concepts such as a coccyx fracture and pregnancy.

Echoes of pain below the sacrum are not such a rare fact, but it should not be immediately associated with the presence of the pathology considered in this article in a pregnant woman. The cause of pain may be completely different: it can be caused by:

• Anal fissure.
• Hemorrhoids – this pathology quite often “goes hand in hand” with pregnancy.
• Exacerbation of chronic diseases of the genitourinary system or intestines.
• Infectious lesion of the tissues of the uterus or fallopian tubes.
• Deficiency of magnesium and potassium in the body of a pregnant woman, which reduces the strength characteristics of the musculoskeletal system.
• Quite active growth of the cyst, which leads to an imbalance in hormonal levels, which is only aggravated by pregnancy.
• Diseases of the rectum, including infectious lesions.
• Increased tone of muscle and ligament tissue.
• Pathological changes affecting the kidneys.

If a woman begins to feel pain, it is absolutely necessary to tell her obstetrician-gynecologist, who is monitoring the pregnancy. After all, a number of reasons causing pain symptoms can significantly complicate the birth, for example, an infection. Therefore, such a problem should be resolved before the birth.

Coccyx fracture in a child

The true form of this disease is relatively rare. After all, the part of the body in question, represented by a complex of sequentially connected vertebrae, is protected quite well. But, nevertheless, such cases exist, and it would be incorrect to ignore them.

Traumatological statistics show that a coccyx fracture in a child is mainly caused by trauma to the ligaments and joints that are attached to the rudimentary organ in question. A rupture in the space between the vertebrae is also possible, but deformation with a violation of the integrity of the vertebrae themselves is quite rare in small patients.

This disease in children has the same classification as in adults.

• Dislocation.
• Dislocation combined with a violation of the integrity of the bone.
• Violation of the integrity of the bone without displacement.
• Violation of the integrity of the bone with displacement.

The severity of the pathology in this list is displayed from a fairly mild to a more severe disease.

Most often in children, a dislocation can be observed in combination with a violation of the integrity of the bone. The localization of the crack is most often diagnosed in the articulation of the sacrum with the coccygeal process. With such an injury, it is almost impossible to recognize the problem even with the help of an X-ray. In such a situation, a careful examination by an experienced pediatrician - traumatologist is necessary, since the symptoms of many diseases associated with the area in question are quite similar.

In some cases, a banal bruise can cause panic, while a more severe injury can go unnoticed. Therefore, at any degree of bruise, it would not be superfluous to show the baby to a specialist.

If possible, parents should obtain information from the child about the nature of the pain. Since with a dislocation, the pain syndrome can change in intensity, or even temporarily stop. Whereas with the pathology described, the pain is highly intense and has an increasing nature.

Parents should be alerted and encouraged to seek help from a doctor:

• Painful bowel movements.
• The appearance of a large hematoma in a child.
• Local tissue swelling.
• Severe pain makes the baby show corresponding emotions.
• The discomfort increases with any attempt to change body position.
• The baby has difficulty standing up and sitting down.
• Upon palpation, unhealthy mobility of the appendix can be detected.

If you detect at least some of the above symptoms, you should immediately take your child to the emergency room for a specialist examination. Only he can confirm or refute the suspicions that have arisen.

Consequences of a coccyx fracture

Only a person who has faced this problem can fully assess the consequences of a coccyx fracture. But this "theoretical" knowledge will not hurt other respondents either. Perhaps, it will help a person to be more attentive to his health, and if pathological symptoms arise, to immediately seek help from the necessary doctor.

Statistics show that a severe bruise can develop into a chronic condition in a relatively short time. But observations indicate that a bruise whose consequences do not appear immediately, but over time, is more dangerous.

It is worth noting that the victim begins to experience severe pain in the coccygeal area, but as doctors believe, this is not the worst thing in the current situation. As disease monitoring has shown, in 30% of cases, headaches are associated with deformation of the process in question.

The situation is especially dangerous when the deformation occurs with displacement. After all, some remember from school that the spinal column is a structure assembled from hollow sections inside (like in a construction set). In the upper part, it connects to the cranium, the receptacle of the brain, and at the bottom, the cavity is closed by coccygeal sections. The spinal cord is located inside the cavity.

Now let's see what can happen if a deformation occurs and a broken fragment, having shifted, affects the spinal cord. This is the most severe consequence of injury. Compression pressure can provoke a migraine.

Such an impact can also lead to compression of nerve endings extending from the spinal cord to almost any internal organ. When such a connection is disrupted, this or that disease develops. Although at first glance it is impossible to catch such a connection.

But the most terrible thing is compression injury of the spinal cord, which becomes a chronic disease.

Another consequence of the pathology may be improper fusion of bone tissue, which leads to problems with defecation, fistulas and abscesses that do not heal for a long time, and in pregnant women - difficult traumatic childbirth, both for the baby and for the mother herself.

If the fusion is incorrect, the traumatologist insists on surgical intervention and removal of the rudimentary process.

At the site of injury, a bone callus is necessarily formed, which is a “provocateur” of deposited salts, due to which, after a long time (up to several years), the mobility of the body in this area can be significantly reduced.

If you follow all the recommendations of the traumatologist, then after a course of therapeutic exercise and physical procedures, the symptoms that appeared against the background of the disease will go away on their own. If you do not make any efforts, you can wait for exactly the complications that were described above.

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Temperature in case of coccyx fracture

As the mechanism of the course of pathological changes shows, with a coccyx fracture, the temperature does not rise above normal. But this does not mean at all that high temperature readings against the background of the disease cannot be in principle.

Fever and high readings on the thermometer can be caused by concomitant diseases, for example, an injury can cause an inflammatory process to progress, which becomes the impetus for high numbers on the measuring device.

Therefore, if the victim feels a rise in temperature after a bruise, you should not delay going to the doctor. Only a qualified specialist can determine the source of the problem and help relieve it.

As can be seen from the data voiced above, the pathology considered in this article can lead to a severe outcome if the person who has received an injury ignores the symptoms and consequences of a coccyx fracture. The right decision in such a situation, after receiving an injury, would be to immediately visit the emergency room and undergo an examination by a doctor - a traumatologist, who will confirm or refute suspicions of the disease. And after establishing a diagnosis, he will give the necessary recommendations and prescribe treatment. Therefore, be more attentive to yourself and your health!