Tailbone Disorders
Educational information. Individual clinical review of this presentation by Dr. Ehsan is not yet documented. It does not replace personal medical evaluation.
Source: MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine. Read the original source
MedlinePlus data edition September 26, 2026. Imported September 27, 2026. These dates do not indicate a new clinical review of the article.
The tailbone is the small bone at the bottom of your backbone, or spine. Tailbone disorders include tailbone injuries, pain, infections, cysts and tumors. You rarely break your tailbone. Instead, most injuries cause bruises or pulled ligaments. A backward fall onto a hard surface, such as slipping on ice, is the most common cause of such injuries. Symptoms of various tailbone disorders include pain in the tailbone area, pain upon sitting, pain or numbness in the arms or legs due to pressure on nerves in the tailbone area, and a mass or growth you can see or feel.
Symptoms, tests and care options
Further reading selected by MedlinePlus. Links open the original organizations’ websites.
- Bone X-Ray · Radiological Society of North America
- CT Scan of the Spine · Radiological Society of North America
- Spine MRI · Radiological Society of North America
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For a life-threatening emergency, call 911 in the U.S. or your local emergency number.
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