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David
Posted 2011-06-19
In December of 2007, right after Christmas, I slipped on my icy front porch and landed on edge of the only step. The way I fell, I landed with the edge of the only step right down the middle of my buttock – my tailbone striking it and catching all my weight. I was in terrible pain and could barely set for more than 15 minutes the first few days. When I went to an orthopedist, they x-ray'd my tailbone area and my wrist (which by then was a bit sore from catching a bit of my upper body weight). Nothing was broken. They said it was bruised and the bedside manner of the doctor made me feel belittled for even coming in to see him. Fast forward to this spring, 2011. My tailbone was still not right from the previous injury, with it often aching after airline flights. I work in a job that requires 70% travel. Then, in late Feb early March I fell on my basement stairs. Fortunately, I was holding the hand rail or I would have broken my neck and landed the bottom of the stairs. Unfortunately, I smacked my tailbone again, and this time could not sit for 5-10 minutes. OTC meds did nothing to cut the pain, neither did the opiate based drugs my family physician – who flat out told me he was not comfortable doing manipulations, etc. (though I was in too much pain to even ask about it). He said this time X-RAYS showed I had broken it and there was nothing that could be done except pain killers. After several months and continued research I dreaded having to drive to Duluth, MN where the only Dr. listed on coccyx.org's recommended doctors list, near me, could be found. I was about to have to take a short term disability due to the continued aggravation. My customers thought it odd when I visited their office with the professional looking Sciata Seating System by Inspri that I purchased, after reviewing all the donut options and the like from coccyx.org. One of my colleagues, when I brought this black executive pillow to nice dinner, thought I brought my laptop because of the clean look, shape, and size.
To make a long story short, I did some digging and found that Dr. Louis Saeger, M.D., F.A.C.P.M. (see Doctors and specialists in the USA, Minnesota) wrote a paper about coccyx injury treatment. Fortunately, my insurance does not require referrals (though my family Doctor would have given me one if asked). I scheduled and got in to see Dr. Saeger within one week in his Blaine, MN office on the north east end of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. The first injection was done just a few days later, using fluoroscopic technique and resulted in a 60-70 percent pain reduction for me. Now, I can make it through most of the work day at a desk without sitting down – and tomorrow will be 2 weeks. He warned me that it may get worse before it got better – but in my case it did not. My next shot is scheduled for Monday morning.
My insurance is some of the best in the country and will likely cover 100% of the treatment, which was in network. However, the insurance did trigger their subrogation claims process making me document the incident that caused the injury so they could see if some other insurance, like auto accident, business, workman's compensation, etc. – should pay instead. The price billed to my insurance was around 300-400 for the initial screening visit and about 1800 for the fluoroscopic injection. The pain relief I have received seems lasting but the there is still some pain left. This is as Dr. Saeger said it may be, he did not pull any punches and says some people get no relief, some get complete relief – in the first shot. Still others, receive partial relief and subsequent shots help. If I see the same pain reduction again, I think I will only need one or two more to be completely pain free.
I can highly recommend Dr. Louis C. Saeger, M.D., FACPM, Midwest Spine Institute. Their website needs some work, but do not let that scare you off. The whole staff was professional and I am very glad for Dr. Saeger and his staff of professionals.
Posted 2011-09-18
While my first injection gave me significant and lasting reduction in pain, the 2nd seemed to make things worse. I estimate I got back 5% of the additional pain I had lost. Of course, it did not help that I took a cross country flight the day after the flight. In fact, I suspect I my flight caused further injury. Fortunately, a week later, I resigned the position I was in that required 70% travel. That was about July 1st. I went in for a 3rd injection on August 29th, and took it easy for a few days afterwards. Again, I have significant reduction in pain. Probably back to 95% or more pain free with at least a 20% reduction over last night. Clearly the steroids are doing good at helping my tailbone and/or soft tissues in the area heal. I definitely have zero regrets on the fluoroscopic injections done by Dr. Saeger. If the trend continues, I either will not need another treatment OR I’ll need one more at most.
I cannot stress enough, how important it has been to ensure I do not further injure my tailbone as I heal. I use an electric sit-stand desk at home and at work. I also use a Inspiri Sciatica executive gel cushion as a kneed pad to allow me to kneel at my desk when I get tired of standing. I can probably get a good hour swapping between two knees, left knee, right- knee. I sit for no more than about 15 minutes a day except when driving 15 miles each way to/from work.