What causes tailbone pain in men? Is it serious?

Coccyx pain is a symptom that many people will experience. This kind of pain causes great suffering to the patient and is also difficult to treat. Therefore, it is best for us to know more about the causes of coccyx pain in order to prevent it.

The human spine can be divided into cervical spine, thoracic spine, lumbar spine, sacral spine and coccyx. The coccyx is located below the sacrum and is composed of three to five degenerate vertebrae, forming the tail end of the spine. From the perspective of anatomical structure, our coccyx has less fat layer, not as "flesh" as the buttocks, so when we fall, the pain of the periosteum injury is unbearable. If the soft tissue under the periosteum bleeds, coupled with unsatisfactory recovery, it is easy to develop chronic fibrosis, leading to pain in the coccyx area.

Therefore, most of the pain in the coccyx area comes from poor posture. As shown in the figure, if you keep sitting upright or slightly leaning forward, the coccyx will be under little force. But if you sit and lean back (Beijing paralysis), the coccyx will be under great force. Part of the body's weight is transmitted downward through the coccyx, so over time, pain will occur in the coccyx area.

Secondly, trauma causes the soft tissue around the coccyx to undergo varying degrees of hemorrhage, edema, organization, degeneration, spasm, etc., causing pain. More seriously, a fracture of the coccyx causes the coccyx to bend forward and enlarge, causing pain. Therefore, if you have been injured, this is a better explanation for the pain in the coccyx area.

Secondly, coccyx pain is also related to the lumbar spine. Lumbar degeneration and acute and chronic injuries can also cause coccyx pain. It can also cause changes in the physiological curvature of the coccyx, leading to coccyx instability or deformation, resulting in coccyx soreness, discomfort, and pain.

Finally, if you have long-term chronic pain, especially if the pain is severe or accompanied by night pain, you should be careful of tumors in the sacrococcygeal area (chordoma is more common).

Therefore, if the coccyx pain is short-term and mild, it improves quickly through symptomatic treatment and is generally not a big problem. However, if the coccyx pain is long-term, chronic or short-term, severe, you need to consider whether there are other serious problems and go to the hospital for further examination to clarify the cause.