A couple of weeks ago I had an accident in the gym. It was my own fault. There is no wide grip chin bar so I do what some of the other guys do and and set an iron lat pulldown bar across the top of the supports on one of the dip stands. Problem is that the only thing that keeps the bar in place is your own bodyweight. Well anyway. I was about 3 reps into my 1st set when the bar slipped off. I was at the top when it happened so I fell from about 5 feet onto the floor and landed on my ass, lower back, shoulder, and smacked my elbow. My right leg went thru the steps on the dip stand and took the hide off my shin. Hurt like hell and took me a minute to get onto my feet. The only witnesses to this stupidity were some girls doing cardio who came running to see if I survived. Well I recovered quickly and finished up my back routine and left. Over the next few days I thought I was ok but on my next leg day I noticed that I had severe pain when I squat. Its right in my sacrum or cocyx(sp) and only when I’m in the bottom of a squat. I don’t want to go to a doctor 'cause it doesn’t bother me otherwise (and I don’t want anyone around my butt). How do they diagnose and treat a broken tailbone anyway?
Take some time off and give your ass a rest. Wait a min. that came out wrong…awh, you know what I mean. Man that has got to hurt.
Let me first off say that sucks! We as T-men try our hardest to avoid accidents, but sometimes they happen to the best of us. I dont know how they diagnose a broken tailbone, but if it doesnt bother you otherwise I would be willing to bet that it is not broken. I think that a good dose of time will be the best prescription for this injury. Give it a couple of weeks before you do any legs, or anything that would irritate the problem back there. I know not lifting is probably the last thing you wanna hear, but thats what your gonna have do do bro. Keep us posted, and good luck.
Dude, I’m not doctor - but I would assume rest would be the answer on “solving” your problem. But that’s a assumption - and you know what “ass-uming” does…and no pun in that…
Rest. And maybe buy one of those doghnuts to sit on. I have seen them at walmart. Or just sit on a pillow for the time being. Be more careful!
The only time I’m aware of it is at the bottom of a heavy squat. Walking, sitting, sex, etc. doesn’t bother it. Just some kinda of deep injury. Maybe a ligament pull or something.
Avoid any exercises or ranges of motion within, that cause any pain whatsoever. Blood flow is important (except in fresh injuries where there is swelling/broken blood vessels)but im assuming by the time you read this you will be past the R.I.C.E.R stage (rest ice compression elevation,referral-to a health professional), but pain generally means you are reinjuring the area. I extended a bone injury from 4 months to 9 doing that.
I ain’t elevating my butt.
Those types of injuries suck! The ones like what you are describing… you know the sort of stupid ones that we probably deserve for doing something that probably isn’t the brightest thing we have ever done, but take the chance because we don’t like the alternative!!! Anyway, I’m not chastising you, I can SOOOO understand!
Anyway, as I understand your injury, you are not having problems at any other time than at the bottom of your squats? This indicates the probability that this is NOT a broken bone. If you had broken your coccyx (tailbone), you wouldn’t be able to sit, and you would have pain at other times as well. More than likely you are looking at a muscle sprain / strain, that is being aggravated at the point at which the muscles of the Glutes / QL / etc, are at their maximum stretch. As one of the other posters said, this will probably only worsen the condition if it is a sprain / strain, and you would be well advised to do other exercises that don’t aggravate that area. Ther are plenty of other quad / hip / hamstring exercises that you can do that shouldn’t aggravate the area further. The other thing that I would suggest is that if you don’t, seek a Chiropractor to take a look at your low back / sacrum. Problems with these areas can most definitely lead to the symptoms that you are describing. I would look for a Chiropractor that is a CCSP (Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician), or a DACBSP (Diplomate, American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians). They would be more understanding of where you are coming from as well!
I hope you are feeling 100% soon!
Thanks for the replies. I have reduced my training frequency from each bodypart every 4 days to every 7 days for an unrelated reason. I’ll avoid squats on my next leg day and give it a little more time to heal. Actually I’m lucky I didn’t get seriously injured. Thanks again.
Wel, as you (1) finished the workout, and (2) only have pain at teh bottom of the squat, I’d say you are probably just suffering a deep bruise. As such, it will heal on its own pretty quickly. I cracked my tailbone when I was in jr high from sliding out of a powerslide skateboarding. I could barely walk. If it was indeed fractured, you’d KNOW it. All the time.
Lipo, I appear to have the exact same injury as you. It gets painful around my tailbone area when I come up from the bottom of a squat or any kind of explosive movement coming up from a low stance (eg. coming out of the blocks in a sprint). I have almost fully healed from my injury, although it has taken almost a full month. This is probably because I have been sprinting, playing rugby and aggravating it ever since I injured it. I’m guessing that if you do nothing to aggravate it (definately no squatting) it will heal in about 2 weeks.
dude…to check for a broken tailbone they make you get naked and walk like a duck, if there is pain they move on to the tube. they stick a large tube up your butt that sits next to your tail bone. then…get this…they vibrate the tube to see if you feel any pain!
well…um…that’s what they did to my friend.
Lie on your non-dominant side. With your dominant hand, slide your index finger in your anus up to your knuckle. With your thumb, grip your sacrum and “rock” it back and forth. Seriously. It doesn’t even have to be your birthday. If this causes pain you may have a fracture. If you don’t do it and you continue to have pain, someone will do it for you. Severe cases require surgery. Most fractures just require rest and avoiding activities that cause pain. I don’t think you have a fracture but you never know without a x-ray and exam.