Falls are the most common cause of coccydynia. A fall on to the bottom may be caused by a slip on ice or a wet surface, by tripping over an object, or even deliberate actions like someone taking away a chair as you are sitting down. Slipping on stairs is particularly likely to cause damage.
In most cases it is the flesh and the 'sit-bones' that hit the floor, not the coccyx itself, but the shock forces the coccyx out of its normal position, damaging the joint between the sacrum and the coccyx, or one of the joints within the coccyx. In a few cases, the fall causes some object to hit the coccyx directly, dislocating it.
Where someone else has been at fault in causing the injury, it may be possible to claim compensation. (Note - there was a story circulating on the internet that a woman had obtained compensation for coccydynia caused by a fall in a restaurant, after she had slipped on some juice that she herself had thrown at her boyfriend. This story turned out to be a hoax.) It may be hard to prove the extent of the pain, and some people have had to take court action to get compensation. The diagnostic tests suggested in the Investigation and diagnosis section could prove helpful in such cases.
Anonymous - The slightest fall sets it off again
Kristen - The day before I went into labour I fell down my basement stairs
Michelle - Update - Fell off Water Slide.....OUCH!!!!!!
Sue - New and wondering about my recent fall
Lisa - Wheelchair-bound (separate issue) with coccyx at 90 degree angle caused by a fall
Rachel - Ice skating fall caused the pain
Susan - Update - Broken shoe caused a fall downstairs
Teresa - Fall from horseback caused lasting pain
Whitfield - Painful sitting and walking after falling down stairs
Anonymous - Could my fall 35 years ago be the cause of my pain?
Anonymous - Fell down the stairs a year and a half ago
Jim - Fell on my wazoo skateboarding - Shapiro made me 90% better
Donna - Update - I've fallen and I can't get up!
Jon Ellingboe - Fell backwards in the street, got a bruised tailbone
Lisa - Roller blading spill
Maggie - Bad fall and terrible 'bruised' feeling
Lisa - Fell down the stairs
Gogeomol - Fell over the cat
Anonymous - I can't sit or stand for long after a fall
Sara - Slipped downstairs - help!
Lisa - Update - Rollerblading fall
Cindy - Fractured coccyx falling on the ice
Danielle - Fell down stairs - worst pain that I have ever felt in my life
Stacie - Slipped on bus steps - now has plantar fasciitis as well as coccyx pain
Edie Countryman - Pain after Fall
Anonymous - After the fall...
Lois - Fall last July. Trying physical therapy, painkillers
Updated 2005-01-23