I had a vaginal hysterectomy in July '99, and ever since then, I have suffered with coccydynia. Saw an orthopedic surgeon after all the hysterectomy pains had subsided and the coccyx area was still hurting. The first thing he did was x-ray the area (normal) and prescribed some weeks of anti-inflammatory drugs.
The next visit, nothing had changed, so he ordered and MRI, which showed inflamed tissue around the coccyx. At that point, he gave me a cortisone shot, which relieved about 95% of the pain for approximately 2 months. It is now 3 months later, and there is still some pain, especially on getting up from a sitting position (most painful after driving for even short periods of time). I don't know if I should make an appointment for another shot since the pain did get better after the first one. The second one might help get rid of it??? I meant to ask the doctor, but perhaps someone could answer my question: The coccyx itself would not show inflammation in the MRI, since it is bone, and also, since the MRI does not show bone structures as well as an X-ray. So what would the inflamed tissue be...ligaments?? Has anyone else had this experience?
Updated 2000-03-11