Tailbone Pain

[SummerPerk]

Hello everyone~
I've spent waaay too many hours over the last week reading all the posts! I'm glad to have discovered such an active community. I recently begun cycling, and absolutely love it! I have a trek hybrid 7200 and am having so much fun, except for one issue. I have been experiencing major pain just above my tailbone, mainly when I rise up off of the saddle. It gets so bad that after 10 miles or so I can't really lift myself off at all. After I'm off, the pain pretty much disappears (although it reoccurs if I sit on a stool when I get up). I did try a new saddle (Serfas Women's Rx). It helped a little bit, but not enough. Any suggestions at all? I am assuming that it is the result of a compressed nerve. I am going in for a physical in two weeks, so I will talk to my doctor, but am not optimistic that she will be able to provide an answer. I've researched tons on the web, but have been unable to find anything. Should I go in for an in-depth fitting consultation? Suggestions for saddle type? It's getting to be so that I'm afraid to go riding because I'm afraid of the pain. :(

[KnottedYet]

The pain is above your tailbone, and only when you rise up *off* the saddle or *off* a stool?

Have you researched sacro-iliac pain?

Your doc or PT will check you for a functional or structural pelvic alignment issue when you go in, but it might be interesting to research S-I joint problems before your appointment. (if it is the S-I joint, it's very easy to deal with, exercises and self-corrective techniques, shims in your shoes if needed, things like that)

[Zen]

You'll probably want a referral to a physical therapist, look here (http://www.listentoyourpain.com/articles.html)

[RoadRaven]

Just echoing Zen and Knotted, Summer

Get this checked out - tailbone when you rise doesn't sound familiar to me as bike-specific/bike-related...

[beetle]

I've got this but not as a result of the bike. I had a baby 5 weeks ago and think I've agrevated a previous break in my coxyx. I totally know what you mean when you talking about the pain getting up off a stool. On my bike though I only experience it on the trainer when I'm sitting up, well back, with my hands off the handlebars. Whenever I'm forward it does not hurt. I'm seeing my dr soon and was planning to ask about it then but suspect it will just take time to heal (like it did last time). But it seems like your case might be different as I certainly remember the events that caused the pain to start, could it have been something other than the bike that caused the problem, in your case, like a fall? Regardless I would get it checked by a dr as the others have suggested.

[Thorn]

While the others are probably right and a visit to the doc is in order, but in the meantime, here's a possible simple solution....your saddle is too narrow.

If I ride a saddle that is too narrrow, I get a pain similar to what you describe--just above the tail bone. It is as if someone put in a device and spread everything apart. Standing on the bike becomes almost impossible and I dread intersections. Once I'm up for a while the pain subsides. I discovered this after riding the winter on a good fitting saddle. When I went back to my outdoor bike, the pain started up again. Switched the outdoor bike to the same saddle I was using indoors and voila'--no pain.

Find those threads on measuring the sit bones and then go back and masure your saddle. Do your sit bones have enough room? If so, then look at the shape of the saddle--is it flat across the top or angled to the middle. If the latter, go for the flat.

[Nokomis]

other minor adjustements to consider - if your tail bone is long(?) make sure your cycling shorts don't pull or put pressure on the end. Also look for a saddle w/ a notch in the back so your tail bone isn't pressing in to the saddle when you're seated.

[Geonz]

Also try adjusting height and angle of the seat, perhaps raising it a tad.

MIne's a tad low right now (but, alas, fused so I can't get it loose yet... now, if it's stuck, how come it's gotten lower??? Aargh...) and my butt and knees are what talk to me, and it's only a few hairs too low. It's easier to get into a "sitting too low" situation on the more upright bikes.

[SummerPerk]

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful responses. I have an appointment for an annual this week, and I am going to push for a physical therapy appointment to get this figured out once and for all! I did spend some time pursuing some of the areas you suggested, and I didn't find anything to quite match what's going on, but it was still helpful. I am going to find and read the threads on measuring sitbones--that may have something to do with it, or at least be something I can rule out.

[bikerz]

So I know this thread has aged about 6 weeks - but I am suffering from exactly what SummerPerk describes - it really agonizing to stand up off the saddle, especially after 25 or more miles. (And let's not talk about what it feels like now after today's 50 mile ride! :( )

I have been riding the Selle Anatomica for the last few months, and really liking it, except for this issue. I don't really have any pain while I am riding, juts a sense of pressure in the tailbone area - it's only when I go to raise myself up off the saddle, or get off the bike, that the pain hits. And as SummerPerk says, it's bad enough to make me not get up.

I have been continually re-tensioning the saddle, and it has (developed?) what looks like a "bump" at the back, but the bump does not actually make contact with the sore area.

Thorn's comment about maybe the saddle being too narrow has me wondering: if the leather tension is too loose, maybe the saddle is folding under my weight, becoming effectively too narrow.

It could be that the saddle is defective (hence the constant re-tensioning), so I think I'll send it back to them for replacement.

SummerPerk - are you still around? Did you get the problem resolved?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I hurt my tailbone pretty badly last year- I hopped off my bike saddle once but didn't quite make it and came down hard right on the saddle nose with my tailbone. OMG that was some pain.
I had MONTHS where it was hard to sit in any one position for too long. Finally most of the symptoms went away after about 6 months. BUT...I noticed when I sat in certain chairs for a while, when I got up I would feel that awful twinge of pain ABOVE my tailbone just like described here. It always happend when I had been sitting too long in one position and my butt was starting to go numb from the old tailbone incident....then I'd get up and the shooting pain would happen.

I'm thinking your saddle is putting too much pressure in a bad spot and pinching some nerve or blood vessel, and the pain happens when you rise up and blood shoots back in to the area suddenly.

[maryellen]

I had what sounds like a similar problem a few years ago though mine was non-cycling in origin. Have you tried icing? If the area is inflamed icing might help calm the nerve and discomfort a bit until you are able to get professional input.

[sundial]

Hi Summer, I know what you mean by the tailbone pain when you get off the saddle. I've experienced that too so I can sympathize. :o

Finding a saddle with a proper fit and design will help your tailbone pain. Specialized has a tool to measure the distance between your sitbones so that you can get the right width in your saddle. Believe it or not, the tool is called an a$$meter and you sit on it and the dealer measures the distance between the impressions made by your sitbones. Specialized offers some of their saddles in 3 widths. I have one that has a pretty significant cutout for the tailbone. I don't have the soreness like I did with my Terry saddle.

If you want to try and measure your sitbones yourself, here's what worked for me. Lay on your back with your knees bent and feel for the sit bones. It may be helpful to bring your knees to your chest. Take a tape measurer and measure the distance from the outside of each sitbone. My sit bones measured 5 1/4 inches, which is 130 mm. Specialized recommends that you go with a saddle one size larger than your measurement so that you can have some room for play as you change positions in the saddle. So in my case, I would choose a 143 mm saddle, which is the most popular size.

www.specialized.com