Warming or cooling to reduce coccyx pain

Some people find that warmth reduces their coccyx pain, some find that coldness helps. You will have to experiment to find out if one of them works for you.

Warmth

Jo writes: Get yourself a good heating pad. SOOO much comfort from the heat.

Different people have used microwave heating pads, hot water bottles or electrical heating pads.

Coldness

Mark writes: Ice packs stop the pain

Katherine writes: I find icing really helps, but it's not easy to get an icepack to the relevant parts, without freezing some very sensitive bits! So, I've made an eentsy icepack that just fits in the right place. Here's how:

First, get an exam glove, the kind they use in the doctor's office. If you ask, they'll usually give you a pair. Fill the glove's four fingers (but not the thumb) with water, just enough to fill the fingers about 3/4 full. Put the glove in the freezer, with the fingers hanging off the shelf, and put something on top of the rest of the glove to hold it in place. Freeze.

Now you've got a glove with four frozen fingers. Cut them off where they join the glove, and wrap the cut ends of each tightly with a rubber band to seal them. You now have four eentsy ice packs that fit pretty comfortably in the crack of your rear. They melt pretty quickly (after all, they're just ice), so it's good to have a few so you can use one while another is freezing back up again.

Grace Tazewell writes: In the car I lay a few of the flat gel-filled ice-packs down where my bottom will be on top of the cushion, and I can drive comfortably (no pain really) for a half an hour. I finish shopping, come out and get 3 more and do the same thing on the ride home.

Updated 2005-09-18

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