Cured after 10 years - no surgery
Christian, Switzerland
Posted 2024-06-16
My coccygodynia started December 2013 during a car ride. I was using the bike a lot these days and my coccyx started to hurt all of a sudden. I thought it would go away with ibuprofen and sitting on a soft pillow, but it didn't. After a couple of weeks - months, I went to my family physician who did steroid injections (around 5 times), which really helped.
But it was still difficult to sit and fortunately I had a standing desk at work. I also purchased wedge cushions for the chairs, the ones with a hole cut out in the back, to relieve the pressure from the tailbone. For a period of time in 2015 I wore cycling pants with cushions as underwear.
Then, in 2016 I decided to get surgery. But while going to the MRI, I noticed that the pain got less and less. So therefore, I canceled the surgery and tried the conservative way (also because I had to fly a lot -- eco class -- and it worked with ibuprofen and my seat cushion). I didn't use a bike for some years, honestly (I think 2014-2018), just walking and using a scooter. In 2018, I started using a bike again for short (10-20 min) commutes. It worked ok. Also, I bought a HARA-Chair with split seating, which really, really helped and I am still using it and very happy with it.
The pain was almost gone, just from time to time there was a numb, strange feeling in the coccyx region. I still continued (and even in 2024 still do) using the wedge-shaped cushion (especially when driving in the car for longer distances). But nowadays I can sit for a couple of hours without the cushion (e.g. in a restaurant or so) without any problems. I consider myself cured, but it was a long journey.
I wish all of you the best and hope that my story helps you stay motivated and try the conservative way, because surgery can also be problematic and it is not guaranteed that it works. Also, this episode made me more aware of our health, and especially that sitting is bad and we should use a standing desk and switch between standing and sitting as best as we can to avoid such health problems.
