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Coccyx Tailbone Pain
Sacroiliac Joint Pain
Chronic back, hip and leg pain can be caused by the Sacro-Iliac Joint (SI Joint), which can be injured by a car accident, fall, or pregnancy. Injury to the joint can produce low back, hip, and leg symptoms. It can also hurt as the surrounding muscles become tight and weak. An SI joint injection involves placing a small amount of medication into the sacro-iliac joint to help reduce swelling and pain and the joint. Because the SI joint is very hard to access, imaging needs to be used to get medication into the joint with any accuracy. Our physicians are experts in accessing the SI joint. Most patients get relief and return to normal activities. If the problem is more severe, the pain can usually be controlled. Patients usually experience pain at the back of the hip and into the low back. Pain, numbness, tingling, or burning may also be felt in the front of the thigh. In addition, numbness and tingling down the leg can occur. The first part of the diagnosis is a physical examination. Your doctor will look for local tenderness over the joint as well as in associated areas. In addition, hands-on assessment of the joint’s mobility may be performed. Finally, the standard of diagnosis is a positive response to an SI joint injection. MRI’s and x-rays usually do not show the problem.
Coccygodynia or Tailbone Pain
Coccygodynia is pain that is in and around the coccyx. Studies have shown that Coccygodynia is five times more common in women than in men due to the fact that the coccyx is supposedly more exposed and prominent in females. The average female patient suffering from this type of pain, typically has a thin body and has sustained direct trauma to the coccyx or possibly injured the coccyx during childbirth. Many times a fall results in a fracture of this bone and this causes chronic pain. As a drastic measure, some patients undergo surgery (coccygectomy) and benefit from it, however many do not have positive results and this results in chronic pain in this area of the body. Here at Wasatch Pain Solutions, we do not recommend surgery unless all conservative treatments have been attempted, therefore we employ minimally invasive procedures that eliminate this pain all together.