Broken Coccyx

[sarah-jayne-1]

Hi guys
Im wanting a little bit of advice. I am 22 and 3 weeks ago i had a fall out hunting, very freak accident and landed on my back on a rock. I was taken to hospital where they did xrays and informed me i have broken my coccyx. Has anyone had the same?? How long did it take before you could ride again??
I have a very bouncy 5 year old ex racehorse, and im thinking of buying a Heather Moffet seabone saver as ive heard these can softern the seat and make it alot more comfortable. Has any one used this???
Im scared that it is never going to be 100% pain free and as im only young this is something that is worrying me alot. Any good stories would be greatly appreciated to make me feel a bt better.

 

[ChesnutsRoasting]

ouchpoor you. Can't offer any suggestions regarding seatsavers but wish you a speedy recovery

 

[pinkypug1]

Hi so sorry about your accident! i broke mine 10 years ago after a fall during a competition, didnt realise it was broken at the time was just very sore but i continued with my next round of jumping in a very light seat lol!

I rode again within a few days as i had no option but to i just filled myse3lf with pain killers and worked in a light seat most of the time but after 10 days or so i was fine. sorry to be the bearer of bad news but 10 years down the line if a sit for a long period on a hard seat, wall etc it hurts when i get up i do suffer stiffness. But looking back i prob didnt let it heal very well. I think its the same with most broken bones tho as 15 years after breaking my arm it still hurts when its cold!

 

[Tinsel Trouble]

I fractured my coccyx when I was thrown onto the road in 2004. It hurt like billy-o for 12 weeks then stopped hurting. I made the mistake of riding 3 days after breaking it and I was in tears!

I have a gel seat saver and it is great in making a hard saddle comfortable, but the weight comes down to your coccyxs, not up from the saddle! I would do what I did after I fell off and just rest for 2 weeks while the bones start to knit! And don't do any heavy lifting and see and osteopath within 15 weeks as you will hold yourself differently and you're likly to put your lower back out of allignment!

 

[Gluttonforpunishment]

Bad luck OP.

Many years ago I damaged my coccyx falling down the stairs. Doc thought it was just badly bruised and didn't x-ray at the time. Osteopath now believes I fractured it.

It was a full year before I could sit on a hard chair - no way could I have ridden even dosed up on pain killers.

8 years on it is mostly fine but it does play up if I have been sitting down for an extended period of time. Doesn't seem to bother me riding but I'm mainly a happy hacker so no not really doing anything intensive.

Consult your doctor and follow his advice. I think you will find riding far too painful anyway but it will obviously not aid the healing process.

 

[NeilM]

I broke mine in somewhat dramatic fashion, when the motorbike I was a passenger on came to an abrupt halt in the side of a car that pulled out without looking.

I discovered my broken coccyx after 8 weeks, when I left hospital, as the first time I sat on a hard chair I nearly passed out with the pain.

I would give it 6 to 8 weeks to settle, and then try riding with the softest seat saver you can find. If it hurts (and you WILL know), wait some more.

Not really what you want to hear, and you have my sympathy on a stupidly inconvenient injury.

 

[Laura1812]

i broke my coccyx in jan this year when my young mare came over on top of me. it is very painful and i didnt ride for a few months. the pain does get better but it takes a long long time. i didnt feel 100% until about august!

 

[Umbongo]

I fractured mine a few years ago. Unfortunately it was right during my end of year exams. So I needed to sit on a small rubber ring thing as I sometimes had 2 to 4 hours of written exams!

I couldn't ride properly for a couple of months. I did try a few times but ended up having to be standing up in the saddle the whole ride as I couldn't bare to sit down! It properly didn't feel quite ride for nearly a year and then suddenly stopped hurting. I do use a Heather Moffett now as I get bruised seat bones quite easily...and it is pretty good for that.

 

[scarymare]

I broke mine falling onto frozen ground. I was 13 and too embarrassed to see a doctor. Still haven't but was in agony everytime I got up for months (pain seemed worse when getting up than sitting down). Im now 45 and still sitting on lab stools etc for long periods of time isnt great and it aches in the cold and damp. I suppose it depends what sort of damage there is.

Sorry not to be more positive - it didn't stop me riding though.

 

[jendie]

I'd give yourself at least a month - six weeks to give the bone a chance to heal. Listen to your body and if it hurts STOP. If it heals properly you shouldn't have problems in the future and it is worth taking the off now to guard against a long-term problem. I presume it isn't displaced? Hope you feel better soon. Any fracture is painful but one in the back, even in the tail bone, always seems worse.

 

[lara b]

just a little note about the seat saver, I love mine but do find it takes a little while to warm up and is quite hard until it does (but then it is lovely). Hope you heal soon

 

[carthorse15]

Yes, to Heather Moffat seatsaver!!

I fractured my coccyx about 9 years ago in a riding accident. Was pretty sore for a few months - to this day still have odd twinges. Started riding again within a few weeks of accident and bought a HM seatsaver from a friend - best thing I ever did so comfortable, made a huge difference and still use it.

 

[1Anastasia]

Yes I did this about 16 years ago in a fall from an ex-racer who momentarily forgot about the ex bit and took off with me, i was alright until she swerved round a tree stump and the momentum shot me out of the side door! It hurt like hell and as someone else said getting up from a chair was particularly sore. The muscle strength in the area means that the fractured bits never knit back together but the pain does subside after 8-12 weeks. Seat savers are great but I am one of those who always lands on my bum if I fall off and I then aggravate the old injury and can't ride for another 4-6 weeks again! It's one of those things that you think will never improve and then almost overnight goes from tear inducing to fine. Avoid hard chairs at all costs though, lab stools are particularly bad for me and those stackable plastic ones too. Always wear a coat or fleece if you're likely to be sat anywhere for any length of time to roll up as a cushion! Hope you feel better soon!

 

[jodie3]

My daughter fractured hers on a zip wire that hadn't been tightened properly and she crashed into a tree root.

I remember she was in a lot of pain for a long time afterwards and didn't ride for several months.

I would agree with the poster who said about seeing an osteopath, my daughter didn't until some years afterwards and was told that had she seen one earlier she could have saved herself a lot of discomfort.

Probably not what you are planning OP but she has found that being pregnant aggravates the old injury!

 

[Moggy in Manolos]

Hiya. It is hard to say if you will ever be 100% comfortable 100% of the time.
I slipped a disc age 18, very young, it gave me pain for years and years, still does cause problems in truth.

Then a couple of years ago my coccyx was badly fractured and I have been suffering alot recently when sat down for prolonged periods. It took a couple fo months to settle down then it was ok. I think it has only been a problem very recently as I have not been so mobile, having lost my horse and losing a good degree of activity/exercise there, then having vertigo has made walking tough.
What I am saying is, that gentle and regular exercise is hugely beneficial to keeping my back more comfortable.

Thing is we are all different and it is very hard to say. I dont want you to think that because I suffer a fair amount, on and off in truth (but more on) that you would be the same. I am 30 now btw.
Just give yourself time to heal, try not to sit down for long, I found it impossible to sit initially. But take it one day at a time, and when it has settled you need to focus on keeping your back strong by regular exercise of some sort if you can. Hope you heal soon x

 

[QueenOfCadence]

I broke my coccyx last year in a completely unhorse related accident (fell while dancing on a cruise ship in very high heels :L). Anyway, didn't have a clue that my coccyx had broken - I thought I'd just bruised them and kept it to myself for the rest of the cruise (not to dampen anyone else's vacation and also because even if I did moan, there would be very little that could be done since we were in the middle of the ocean). To make a long story short, after the cruise I went on with my regular riding routine as I have a VERY strict instructor who thought that I was being full of ***** and just looking for an excuse not to work my butt of (literally). I ended every lesson in tears begging to get off. It hurt. A LOT.

I eventually went for x-rays since I couldn't even sit to write end of year exams for Accelerated. Turns out the point of my coccyx broke clean off, it was still in about the right place though it's a more of an angle now XD. And my riding had probably made the break worse. My riding instructor felt sooo guilty and I earned so "dedication" points from it

I was off of riding for 3 months I think (doctors orders) and even after that for the next few months it was hard to ride.

I still can't sit for long stretches of time as it will still hurt from time to time. Don't ride if it hurts - you'll make it worse

I'd consult a good Dr. and see what he/she says ? They can often estimate the time that you should take off

 

[sarah-jayne-1]

Thank you guys. Ive seen an Osteopath who told me that there was nothing he could do for it. It is immensly painful, but i am desperate to compete in RoR classes in the summer, i hav only had the horse a month when i had the accident and so ive got a lot of work to do with him before the start of the showing season.

It is reducing me to tears as i am not allowed to go back to work yet which is very stressful when I work for a large equine superstore and we are coming in to xmas and i feel guilty that im not there to help. Also it is frustrating me that i can not do all things i want to do which is making me upset alot.

But thank you all for the advise it looks like im going to be stuck at home bored for a few more weeks yet.

 

[Izzwizz]

I sympathise, my was injured 21yrs ago when my daughter was being born - heard a deep down crunch. Couldnt sit on anything hard for ages like others have said. It got less painful as time went by and probably took about a year to 18months. I have now re-injured it having been kicked by a horse last Thursday and landing on my bum. Hurts like mad and sitting in a car is difficult. Not able to ride as broke my wrist too. Hospital say nothing can be done for my coccyx so just have to avoid sitting on it, have to sit in bath sideways on which is fun whilst trying to keep my arm pot dry.

Hope you feel better soon

 

[Silent Knight]

I broken mine being thrown from a crazy horse. Severley sprained my ankle too, so couldn't stand up and couldn't sit down. Spent the first week crawling around the house on my hands and knees lol.

Too about 2 months to ride (light seat) and about 18 months to sit on a hard chair.

 

[councillor]

I have done mine twice, both times falling off a horse (neither mine) First time I also knocked myself out so was ambulance trip to hospital, I rode after four weeks, but it was bloody sore and I was perched on my forgiving horse for a long time as sitting was so sore.
Second time I was on a horse who decided to rear a few times and as I was expecting another rear and got ready for it the b*gger changed ends and bucked me off onto boulders!! was so angry I got straight back on and had a huge fight with him (napping) but once my adrenalin went down I was stuck on him as it was agony to swing off and as he was a 16.2 tb it was a long way to slither down. I still get pain now if sitting on hard saddles for a while and that was three years ago x

 

[YardGeek]

I broke mine almost 3 years ago falling of my ex-racer, got back on and finished the lesson and did evening yards but collapsed when I got in the car and had to be driven to hospital. X-ray confirmed brake but didn't refer me to any specialists so I stupidly assumed that I was fine and went on to compete a few days layer drugged up to my eyeballs. About eight weeks later I was bullied into going to a physio by my OH and discovered that the four vertibrae above had started to fuse together and I had muscular damage where I had been compensating for the pain 18 months in physio and I would say I'm almosy back to normal but I was banned from riding for 3 months and still have problems when riding for long periods of time. I use a gel seat saver with sheepskin on top when it gets really bad and its been a life saver, especially on some big moving dressage warmbloods!