What is a bone spur? A bone spur is thickening of the bone. Just like you can get a callous on your hands or feet from thickening of the skin, you can also get thickening of bone in certain places in your body. When the bony thickening is focal and makes a pointy projection, we refer to it as a bone spur. (European doctors sometimes call it a bone “spicule”.)
Where do bone spurs happen? The most common locations where people have heard of bone spurs are: a heel spur on the sole of the foot (painful when you take a step) and a bone spur at the shoulder (painful when you reach your arm up and overhead). When a spur happens at the coccyx, it is almost always extending backwards from the lower tip of the coccyx. This causes pain when someone sits on this (especially if you sit leaning backwards). You can read more about that here: Coccyx Bone Spurs, Plantar Heel Spurs, Shoulder Bone Spurs
Why not just surgically “shave down” a coccyx bone spur?
Firstly, just like with bone spurs at the foot/heel and shoulder, it essentially always make sense to start with non-surgical treatment options first. The reason is simple: MOST people will get good relief without needing surgery. This is true for bone spurs at the heel, at the shoulder, and at the coccyx.
Secondly, there are some unique challenges with trying to shave down a bone spur when it is specifically at the coccyx, which are listed below:
A) The coccygeal bones are small and fragile. Sometimes surgeons will note that the coccyx “crumbles” into pieces as they remove it. So, if you were to try to shave off the spur, you would risk causing trauma and fracture to the coccygeal that is attached to the spur. (Comparison: If you had a bit of cement/concrete stuck to the side of a large cargo ship, then you could chisel it off without damaging the big strong cargo ship. But if you had a bit of cement/concrete stuck to the side of a glass/crystal earring, then trying to chisel it off would risk damaging the glass/crystal earring.
B) The coccyx is a weight-bearing surface. You actually put some of your body weight onto the coccyx for prolonged durations of time, specifically while you are sitting. So, if you had the coccyx bone spur “shaved down”, you would be sitting and putting your body weight onto a raw, cut edge of bone. That is not good for your pain level and is not good for healing of the site at the surgical shaving.
SUMMARY regarding distal coccyx bone spurs:
1) It makes sense to try the non-surgical treatment options first, since they work for most people, thus avoiding surgery.
2) There is no good or standard surgical procedure to “shave down” a coccyx bone spur. If surgery is needed, it will typically involve amputating (removing) most or all of the coccyx (coccygectomy), rather than just removing the spur.
Video on coccyx bone spurs: https://youtu.be/D_EC40_xxAM
COME FOR RELIEF: For more information on coccyx pain, or to be evaluated in-person by Dr. Foye’s Coccyx Pain Center in the United States, go to: www.TailboneDoctor.com
– Patrick Foye, M.D., Director of the Tailbone Pain Center, New Jersey, United States.
His personable, private-practice office is located on a modern, renowned, academic medical school campus, at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.
For an appointment, call 973-972-2802.
https://tailbonedoctor.com/
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