Tailbone Disorders (Print Version)

Also called: Also called: Coccyx disorders

The tailbone is the small bone at the bottom of your backbone, or spine. Tailbone disorders include tailbone injuries, pain, infections, cysts and tumors. You rarely break your tailbone. Instead, most injuries cause bruises or pulled ligaments. A backward fall onto a hard surface, such as slipping on ice, is the most common cause of such injuries. Symptoms of various tailbone disorders include pain in the tailbone area, pain upon sitting, pain or numbness in the arms or legs due to pressure on nerves in the tailbone area, and a mass or growth you can see or feel.

Diagnosis/Symptoms

Coccygeal Injury(DSHI Systems) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.freemd.com/coccygeal-injury/visit-virtual-doctor.htm
Coccygeal Pain(DSHI Systems) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.freemd.com/coccygeal-pain/visit-virtual-doctor.htm

Specific Conditions

Chordoma(American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons) - http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00084
Coccydynia (Tailbone Pain)(Cleveland Clinic Foundation) - http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/coccydynia/hic_coccydynia_tailbone_pain.aspx
Levator Syndrome(Merck & Co., Inc.) - http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec09/ch130/ch130h.html
Pilonidal Cyst(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/pilonidal-cyst/DS00747/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
Pilonidal Disease(American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons) - http://www.fascrs.org/patients/conditions/pilonidal_disease/
Sacral Dimple(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/sacral-dimple/DS00753/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Pilonidal Sinus(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Pilonidal+Sinus%22

Journal Articles

References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Article: Treatment of pilonidal sinus with primary closure. A twenty-year experience. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18709783&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Reconstruction of extensive pilonidal sinus defects with the use of... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18650614&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Sinus excision, release of coccycutaneous attachments and dermal-subcuticular closure (XRD... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18634729&tool=MedlinePlus
Tailbone Disorders -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=pilonidal+sinus[majr]+OR+coccyx[majr]+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus

Medical Encyclopedia

tailbone - http://vsearch.nlm.nih.gov/vivisimo/cgi-bin/query-meta?v:project=medlineplus&binning-state=group%3d%3dMedical%20Encyclopedia&query=tailbone

Directories

Find an Orthopaedist(American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons) - http://www6.aaos.org/about/public/members.cfm

Organizations

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons - http://www.aaos.org/
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases - http://www.niams.nih.gov/
Also available in Spanish http://www.niams.nih.gov/Portal_En_Espanol/

You may also be interested in these MedlinePlus related pages:

Bones, Joints and Muscles - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/bonesjointsandmuscles.html

The primary NIH organization for research on Tailbone Disorders is the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases - http://www.niams.nih.gov/