I broke my tailbone today thanks to my neighbor’s ice-pond of a sidewalk. Confirmed via x-ray.
The doctor said there was nothing to do other than wait 4-6 weeks for it to heal. He said I could swim, bike or run if I felt comfortable. But he was sort of douche-y and I don’t really trust him.
Is there anything that can be done to speed recovery? I did get a little donut deal and that is helping. And ice.
I am supposed to swim the 1650 on Sunday? Is this even possible?
Any training advice? Other than water running – my pool does not have a deep end, it’s just a lap pool.
He is right. It’s not a dangerous situation just very painful.
Your donut is a very good idea and as far as activity it’s as tolerated.
If something aggrevates you need to stop that activity depending
on your ppain tolerance. You won’t do anything to further damage
but you could prolong recovery.
Sarah - Your activities will be self-limiting by pain. You will very quickly determine that which is pretty much pain free and the things that hurt. Do the former. I have seen a couple of patients push very hard in the early post injury period extending their healing time. Non-union with subsequent surgery has been reported but I’ve never done it. It’s not terribly common.
My wife broke her coccyx a few years ago in a white water rafting mishap (note: always keep butt up when geting sucked down rapids) and it seemed to take her months to really get over the pain. The bruising in that area was really bad though. Like others said, her doc just said let pain be your guide. I would think you could swim and if you arms get tired maybe do lots of kicking sets to give the legs some work. Good luck…that is painful injury for sure.
I have fractured mine last year and could hardly do anything although yesterday I bumped mine and its a bit sore but I did a hard swim session yesterday and it actually helped it a little bit. I got told by the doctor just done do anything that uses gravity although you can still walk but just try to limit the amount of running and biking
Thanks to all for the advice and encouragement! This morning I had tears running down my face trying to fill my dog’s bowl from a 5 lb bag of dog food – it seems that activities that involve bending are out. Swimming is very relaxing and peaceful for me. Well, not the 1650, but in general. I hope I can still swim.
I am Type A++ (as most triathletes are) so lying in bed on my side is really getting old after doing it for just one day! How do some people sit around all day? I am seriously going nuts.
Hey, hold on here! One of the beauties of TRIathlon is the buffet of choices available to the injured athlete. Or. to those of us a little long in the tooth, to the aging triathlete. You just need a little imagination. I think water running is fun, particularly when you can chat with a fellow injured warrior. And, you get to sit in the hot tub afterwards! How about those upper extremity exercises that you’ve been meaning to do? Hip abductors? Do they feel neglected? Abs using your donut pillow? And, maybe a diminished work out schedule offers the opportunity to get ahead at work or time to do something special for that special someone.
Look at this as a glass is half full problem and you’ll come out of it a better athlete. I’ve been there…as have half the readers of ST. We’re pulling for you.
Upper body will be getting some good workouts for sure. My pool doesn’t have a deep end so no water running. But I hope I can do the elliptical or something similar – my gym does have a very nice cardio area.
And this will be the first 1650 that I’ll start with a two-day taper w 100% rest.
Becareful even pushing off the wall. I broke my tailbone when I was a competitive swimmer and flip turns were torture so i stopped that but a swift push off would bother it too.
I pushed myself during the recovery and I’m still paying for it years later, apparently my tail bone did not heal correctly because I can still feel it if I move incorrectly. Take the time off and get it healed up.
You’re doc is right. There’s not much you can do except the ice/donut until it heals. If its still sore afterwards there is a chiropractic technique I read about at college where the chiro sticks his finger up your anus and does a massage type technique. But to be honest, in almost thirty years of chiro practice I’ve never done this, not even once. To tell the truth, never wanted to.
Doc is right, nothing you can do but be in pain for a while - not like you can put your butt in a sling However, be prepared for this to bug you for the rest of your life. i broke mine snowboarding through glades 9 yrs ago and still cannot sit on a hard seat for prolonged periods of time without feeling some discomfort. . .
I fractured mine back in my days of Moto-X racing, flipped over the bars and landed on a rock! The worst part was carrying the donut on my college campus for a year. It took me about 1.5 years before I could sit still on a hard seat, but it got better slowly. I was able to start riding about one month later with a little discomfort but not too bad.
