The coccyx is five underdeveloped vertebrae that complete the spinal column. One of these formations has processes, the rest has a rounded shape. Normally, this part of the spine should be directed forward, when pressed, it easily springs without causing pain in a person. However, if discomfort is felt between the buttocks or the patient has difficulty sitting, this may indicate that the tailbone has bent. For initial symptoms, you should consult a doctor, since treatment that is not started in a timely manner entails serious complications.
Causes of pathology
The curvature or bending of the tailbone is a pathology that delivers a lot of unpleasant sensations that impede a full life and reduce working capacity. Deformation can occur laterally, anteriorly, but its mixed form is also possible. In the photo, the tailbone bend can be seen.
The reasons that provoke the bias include:
- Intrauterine disturbance of the formation of the spinal column, in particular the coccygeal zone.
- Mechanical influences, for example, coccyx fracture , dislocation, subluxation, rupture of ligaments of the coccygeal region. Such injuries are received when participating in a car accident or through a direct fall on the buttocks.
- Pathology of the spinal column. This includes various pathological neoplasms, age-related and destructive changes in bone tissue. These include curvature of the spine, intervertebral hernia, and displacement of the lower sections of the disc.
- Pregnancy and childbirth. In the process of bearing the fetus, the load on the pelvis is significantly increased, due to which the pelvic bones can disperse and the coccyx will bend. A large fetus or rapid delivery can also trigger the occurrence of this pathology.
In most cases, during the collection of the patient's history, a whole complex of provoking factors is revealed.
Symptoms
The bend of the tailbone, regardless of the cause of its occurrence, is always accompanied by severe discomfort. Pain syndrome is of varying intensity. At rest (standing, lying down) the pain is usually different aching and constant in nature. With physical exertion (with inclines, long walking, in a sitting position), the pain syndrome becomes pronounced and intense.
Unpleasant sensations can occur not only directly in the coccyx. The pain often spreads to the lumbar region, groin. In addition, the act of defecation becomes painful, the patient appears constipated, the genitourinary system is disrupted. The duration of the pain syndrome can be several years. Especially long pains bother women after a difficult birth. Immediately after injury, redness of the skin, swelling, and hyperthermia are observed in the coccyx.
In addition, scientists have proved that people who are diagnosed with a tailbone bend are prone to frequent headaches, they are irritable, suffer from lack of sleep, and notice signs of depression.
Diagnostic measures
The symptomatology of the tailbone bends has many similarities with the manifestations of other diseases of the pelvic organs. For differential diagnosis should contact a medical institution. Despite the fact that the system is not damaged, diseases are much easier to eliminate in the early stages of their development.
If you feel pain in the pelvic area, you should consult an orthopedic surgeon. At the first appointment, the doctor collects an anamnesis and examines the patient's complaints. Then the specialist proceeds to a direct examination, which includes palpation, rectal examination, visual assessment.
To the radiological diagnosis of tailbone bends include an X-ray examination, which with this pathology should be carried out in different projections, in a standing and sitting position. If this diagnostic method does not allow to fully reveal the clinical picture, the patient is sent for computed tomography.
Research methods
In order to clarify the diagnosis and exclude other pathological phenomena in the pelvic area, the following studies are prescribed:
- Ultrasound of the pelvic organs and abdominal cavity;
- examination by a gynecologist and urologist;
- blood chemistry;
- clinical studies of blood and urine.
An accurate diagnosis is made only after a high-quality and consistent diagnosis, and tactics for the treatment of coccyx pathology are selected.
Treatment methods
Since the main sign of coccyx bending is pain, the first thing patients are prescribed is symptomatic treatment, which is aimed at alleviating the general condition. To eliminate soreness, the following categories of medications can be prescribed:
- Analgesics (Depiofen, Analgin, Dexalgin).
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which in addition to painkillers, have anti-inflammatory properties, which is also important in the treatment of coccygeal pathologies ("Olfen", "Diclofenac", "Dynastat", "Diclovit").
- Blockades with a local anesthetic, which are prescribed for intense pain, as well as in cases where the above categories of drugs do not have the necessary effect.
Acute Therapy
In the acute period of occurrence of the tailbone bend for treatment, the drugs are prescribed by injection, after the pain subsides, the patients are transferred to the pill. It should be noted that analgesics and NSAIDs negatively affect the mucous membranes of the digestive organs, so they should be taken with some caution. They are usually contraindicated in patients with peptic ulcer disease (including history).
How to treat the bend of the tailbone anteriorly, the doctor should tell. In addition to oral medication, ointment applications for the coccygeal zone are prescribed. These ointments contain a local anesthetic and anti-inflammatory substances. Rectal suppositories with a similar composition are also quite effective.
When the tailbone bend is accompanied by constipation, laxatives are prescribed. For example, Pikolaks.
Manual therapy plays an important role in the tailbone bending, however massage procedures should be carried out only by a specialist.
After relieving acute pain
Still how to treat a bend of a tailbone? After stopping the acute phase of the inflammatory process, patients are prescribed exercise therapy and electrophoresis.
When taking a course of traditional therapy, it is recommended to use a cotton-gauze circle for lying and sitting in order to minimize the load on the tailbone.
Subject to all doctor's recommendations, the course of therapy lasts up to 2 months. If conservative treatment does not help, reconstructive surgery is performed. Indication for emergency surgery is the curvature of the coccygeal elements at an angle of 90 or more degrees.
Individually approach the treatment of coccyx curvature inward, due to the individual characteristics of the body. Therapeutic measures and procedures are selected depending on the absence or presence of certain clinical signs of coccyalgia. If the patient experiences pain, the same schemes are chosen as with coccyalgia. If there is no pronounced symptomatology, no special steps are taken. In this situation, the patient is simply watched.
The consequences of bending the tailbone
With a slight bend, serious violations in the body, as a rule, do not occur, and this problem is naturally compensated. If the bend is significant, the patient begins to worry about constipation, disturbances in the process of urination and defecation. In addition, there is a decrease in the innervation of all organs located in the pelvic area.
Deformations of this species are most dangerous for pregnant women. As a result of the bend, the tailbone acts as an obstacle to the normal passage of the fetus through the birth canal. As a result, the likelihood of injury to the fetus and the woman in labor is increased, as a result of which an emergency caesarean section may be required.