Acute Trauma: Bruised Tailbone

[Michael Ray]

Last Thursday, I fell on my butt, caught my tailbone on the edge of a step, and now have what I assume is a bruised tailbone. I spent the first few days taking ibuprofen, icing it, and just generally trying not to do anything that hurt too much --which incidentally was just about everything - including laughing. I go for a lot of walks, I've switched to a standing desk, and I got one of those funny donut pillows for when I do need to sit.

My question is how to get back into training? Most of the posts I see are about chronic back pain or pain without an obvious cause. Does the advice to work through discomfort hold for something like a bruised tailbone? My understanding is that I should avoid putting any pressure on it b/c then it will take longer to heal. If I feel discomfort during even body weight lifts, will I be delaying my return to normalcy?

My plan is to start working out again tomorrow. I'm going to try body weight movements and maybe use dumbbells for upper body work.

Hey dinataruni - sorry to hear about the recent issue. Have you checked out our article: Pain in training: What do? In principle, yes, the approach is similar but timeline is usually the differing variable. Based on the information you've provided here, beginning with body-weight movements to tolerance seems reasonable.

[dinataruni]

Last Thursday, I fell on my butt, caught my tailbone on the edge of a step, and now have what I assume is a bruised tailbone. I spent the first few days taking ibuprofen, icing it, and just generally trying not to do anything that hurt too much --which incidentally was just about everything - including laughing. I go for a lot of walks, I've switched to a standing desk, and I got one of those funny donut pillows for when I do need to sit.

My question is how to get back into training? Most of the posts I see are about chronic back pain or pain without an obvious cause. Does the advice to work through discomfort hold for something like a bruised tailbone? My understanding is that I should avoid putting any pressure on it b/c then it will take longer to heal. If I feel discomfort during even body weight lifts, will I be delaying my return to normalcy?

My plan is to start working out again tomorrow. I'm going to try body weight movements and maybe use dumbbells for upper body work.