Many people with tailbone pain and other pelvic floor pain syndromes don’t “look” ill.
To the outside observer, they do not see any sling on your arm or cast on your leg.
Yet the tailbone pain can be severe. The injured coccyx can be so sore that you are unable to sit down even to eat a meal at the table or drive to work (let alone sit at a computer desk for an eight hour work day).
Typical MRI and CT scans are normally done in a horizontal position (while you are lying down).
These tests can provide helpful information, BUT in MANY cases the tailbone will look normal while someone is lying down but will be clearly abnormal/dislocated while the person is sitting with her body weight onto the tailbone.
MRI can be done while sitting, but usually only the “open” MRI facilities can do this and unfortunately those “open” MRI machines typically have a weaker magnets strength which gives a lower quality image.
So x-rays done while sitting are often a better way to go if the goal is to diagnose unstable joints of the coccyx (coccygeal dynamic instability).
