Coccygectomy – (Can It Be Dangerous?)

By / health

I’ve recently been worried about my coccyx, It all started after my pregnancy, the pain was almost unbearable, that’s why I’ve started my research. In that way, I found something called coccygectomy, It looked like it could solve my problem. In this article, I’ll present to you what coccygectomy is, what are its benefits and risks, and what are other solutions to help you with your coccyx pain.

Simply put coccygectomy is a safe surgical removal of the coccyx (tailbone). It was invented to help people who didn’t get any results with normal

methods. The coccyx has no big purpose in our body nowadays.

Why do we have coccyx?

The coccyx is useless in our bone structure now, it helped our ancestors with balance, but over the years tailbone shrank, as we learned how to walk upright. It shrank to the point that it is now. Other mammals find their tail useful for balance, but for this stage of evolution that we are in now, it’s definitely not something humans need anymore.

What are the other options to deal with coccyx pain?

There are many ways you can try before you decide about coccygectomy, and we also advise you to do them before any surgery:

  • Physiotherapy
  • Stretching
  • Steroids injection
  • Painkillers
    • 5 - incontent_45 -->
  • Orthopedic pillow
    • tent_46 - incontent_46 -->

Also, we do have a bigger article about dealing with coccyx pain here on our blog, especially if it’s related to pregnancy. You should consult your case with an orthopedist, then you will know more. If one from the above caught your eye, try to ask your orthopedist about it if it’s safe for you. In my personal case, the stretching was a great solution, I’ve done it for a few weeks, mostly on my lower body parts. Of course, before that I also considered surgery, but fortunately, I could avoid that.

coccygectomy

Coccygectomy in details

Your coccyx is made up of three to five fused vertebrae. During coccygectomy, an incision is made at your sacrum. The coccyx is separated from the sacrum and removed from your body. Surgical removal may involve all or a portion of the coccyx. The price of that surgery will vary based on the country that you live in, the range is so big that it won’t give you any idea what it will be the total cost for you.

How long should it take to heal after a coccygectomy?

It depends on your individual case if the coccyx was removed in a portion or as a whole, your age, and overall health condition. But generally as a wide range, you should feel relief from the pain after 3 months up to a full year after the surgery. Walking or sitting during that time can be difficult, and you should note that returning to your normal job can be impossible during that time. From our research, we found out that 95% percent of patients after coccygectomy are pain-free after 3 months.

coccygectomy

Is coccygectomy safe?

There are many clinics that do this type of surgery, and most of them are confided about their success rate. Almost all of them that we’ve found said that they have about a 99% percent of success rate, so we can assume that it’s not as scary surgery as you could think.

There are also potential risks:

c - wp_incontent_38 - incontent_38 -->
  • Local infections
  • Wound healing difficulties

Those can delay your healing process. Unlike most other spine surgeries, there are no significant nerve roots around that place that would be at risk. Every case is different, and the percentage from above can be different in your case. Anyway, first you should consult your condition with a local orthopedist.

Stacy Reed
Follow me
Latest posts by Stacy Reed (see all)