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Kettlebell Coccyx (tailbone) injury

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TobiasNeuffer

TobiasNeuffer

Level 2 Valued Member
Dear strongfirsters,

today I hurt my tailbone while swinging the kettlebell. I suddenly felt a sharp pain on the bottom position of the swing. The same thing happend to me before, about two years ago. The pain went away after a couple of weeks, but my tailbone kept being fragile for quite a while. Back then I saw a kettlebell instructor to check my form which seemed to be OK. I was swinging with 24 kg two-handed, nothing crazy. I do swings two or three times a week in addition to my gymnastic strength training. I am 36 years old.

Nie I have a lot of questions: Has anyone of you ever had tailbone pain/injuries because of the kettlebell swing? Is there a muscle attached to the tailbone? What could be the cause of my injury (bad form, fatigue)? Could it be that the swing may just not be the right exercise for my body? Oh, yes, and I did quite a lot of pancake stretching recently. Could that be contributing to the injury? So many questions, no answers.

I would be extremely happy to hear about your thoughts, opinions, experiences, anatomic knowledge, conspiration theories and/or tailbone recovery tipps (anything, really, just talk to me;)). And yes, I will also go and see a doctor, but I am still interested in what you guys have to say, because my doctor probably doesn't even know what a kettlebell swing is.

I hope you all stay healthy, injury-free and strong!

Love,
Tobias
 
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Damn I got to deal with some sciatica issues over the years and the last episode I had even if it was painfull it got better quicker than usual (about a week or so), it comes from a L5-S1 bulge (not hernia) that I carried with me over the years.. having said that your tailbone's injury sounds like a nerve is pinched somewhere as many pelvic floor muscles insert into the tailbone somehow.

Check with your doc (which will give you some pills for pain relieves and inflammation for sure) but even better check with a traumatologist or a good sport physiotherapist, your problem may not be related directly with the swings but with the position you are sitting while at work, driving, or some other activities.
 
TobiasNeuffer said:
What could be the cause of my injury (bad form, fatigue)? Could it be that the swing may just not be the right exercise for my body? Oh, yes, and I did quite a lot of pancake stretching recently. Could that be contributing to the injury? So many questions, no answers.
Click to expand...
This isn't medical advice, but based on your statement of "I did a lot of pancake stretching recently" leads me to make the assumption that you are very flexible and may have excessive mobility in your S-joint (sacrum). Both excessive movement and insufficient movement can lead to pain. There are any number of other reasons that it could be as well so what you may need to do is ask your doctor for a referral to a pelvic floor physiotherapist.

An exercise that may help you in the mean time is lying on your back with your legs at 90 degrees and your feet flat on a wall. Place a towel or yoga block under your head to achieve neutral spine and practice diaphragmatic breathing. This style of breathing will stimulate your pelvic floor musculature (transverse abdominis) to "turn on", which may relieve the pain.
 
Do you feel that the pain is radiating to your legs and then you have troubles with walking? If yes, I tend to have the same/a similar problem. Actually, I'm dealing with it right now.
I'm not an osteopath, so everything I share in this post is anecdotal. Before anything else I think you should visit an osteopath/chiropractor and ask them about the correctives suitable for your condition.

For me the main culprit seems to be scoliosis + a lot of roundhouse kicking. My osteopath told me the case is an inflamed muscle pinching on a nerve. However it happened to me while swinging once. My issue back then was too much ribflare and too little bracing in the abdominals.
What helps me when the milk has spilt:
- some of these sacrum/spinal erectors releases
- deliberately chosen correctives: in my case asymmetrical paloff press and firehydrants with a miniband
What makes things worse in my case:
- jumping back into the regimen too early
- any kind of pike and straddle stretches
What should help anyone , or at least not work with a detriment:
- the Lewit works wonders
- the strongest ointment for this inflamed muscles you can get at your pharmacy

Good luck with healing!
 
Yes—see your Dr.

No I have not seen a tailbone (coccyx) injury from swinging bells—typical coccyx injuries come from falling and landing on your glutes/butt but hypermobility and over-stretching can contribute to stress and issues in the area.

Back off the stretching, take some time off
 
Pasibrzuch said:
Do you feel that the pain is radiating to your legs and then you have troubles with walking? If yes, I tend to have the same/a similar problem. Actually, I'm dealing with it right now.
I'm not an osteopath, so everything I share in this post is anecdotal. Before anything else I think you should visit an osteopath/chiropractor and ask them about the correctives suitable for your condition.

For me the main culprit seems to be scoliosis + a lot of roundhouse kicking. My osteopath told me the case is an inflamed muscle pinching on a nerve. However it happened to me while swinging once. My issue back then was too much ribflare and too little bracing in the abdominals.
What helps me when the milk has spilt:
- some of these sacrum/spinal erectors releases
- deliberately chosen correctives: in my case asymmetrical paloff press and firehydrants with a miniband
What makes things worse in my case:
- jumping back into the regimen too early
- any kind of pike and straddle stretches
What should help anyone , or at least not work with a detriment:
- the Lewit works wonders
- the strongest ointment for this inflamed muscles you can get at your pharmacy

Good luck with healing!
Click to expand...
Hey! Thanks for your sharing your advice. I've never heard of the Lewit before but I'll definitely give it a try. With me the pain doesn't radiate, it stays in the tailbone area. I just feel a sharp pain when I run or hinge without trying to keep my back really really straight or when I do pike or pancake stretches. Good luck to you to! Being injured sucks!
 
Brett Jones said:
Yes—see your Dr.

No I have not seen a tailbone (coccyx) injury from swinging bells—typical coccyx injuries come from falling and landing on your glutes/butt but hypermobility and over-stretching can contribute to stress and issues in the area.

Back off the stretching, take some time off
Click to expand...
I will! I definitely don't consider myself hypermobile, but I might have exaggerated the (daily) pancake stretching. Thank you!
 
Thanks Nathan! I don't know anything about sacrums, I don't even know where exactly it is located in my body. Maybe it's time to learn. Thanks for the exercise. I will try that, too. This sounds a lot like the Lewit.
coachnathanwhite said:
This isn't medical advice, but based on your statement of "I did a lot of pancake stretching recently" leads me to make the assumption that you are very flexible and may have excessive mobility in your S-joint (sacrum). Both excessive movement and insufficient movement can lead to pain. There are any number of other reasons that it could be as well so what you may need to do is ask your doctor for a referral to a pelvic floor physiotherapist.

An exercise that may help you in the mean time is lying on your back with your legs at 90 degrees and your feet flat on a wall. Place a towel or yoga block under your head to achieve neutral spine and practice diaphragmatic breathing. This style of breathing will stimulate your pelvic floor musculature (transverse abdominis) to "turn on", which may relieve the pain.
Click to expand...
 
Eyetic said:
Damn I got to deal with some sciatica issues over the years and the last episode I had even if it was painfull it got better quicker than usual (about a week or so), it comes from a L5-S1 bulge (not hernia) that I carried with me over the years.. having said that your tailbone's injury sounds like a nerve is pinched somewhere as many pelvic floor muscles insert into the tailbone somehow.

Check with your doc (which will give you some pills for pain relieves and inflammation for sure) but even better check with a traumatologist or a good sport physiotherapist, your problem may not be related directly with the swings but with the position you are sitting while at work, driving, or some other activities.
Click to expand...
Thanks Eyetic! I don't know what exactly is going on down there. The weird thing is that the second time around it seems to go away much faster. A similiar thing happend after a tear in my obliques a couple of years ago. The same exact injury keeps coming back, but instead of weeks it takes days to heal. As if it wasn't a real injury but just the memory of it. Going to see a traumatologist seems like a good idea, he might know. I wish you all the best with your injuries (and all the rest)!
 
@TobiasNeuffer, it looks like you could use a heavier kettlebell and might benefit from that.

I don't know how long you've been swinging a kettlebell - please tell us.

What I see is that you'd benefit, with the weight you're using, from focusing on directing the force you're producing into the kettlebell. Your feet don't seem strongly routed into the ground.

-S-
 
I agree with @Steve Freides! I think a heavier kettlebell will smooth things out. Think of trying to pitch a whiffle ball. It's uncomfortable for the joints because there's just not enough weight to accelerate and produce force against the ball. In comparison, a baseball or softball is perfect and loads the muscles much better so that you can execute a smoother throwing movement. The kettlebell swing is like that, especially when you're trying hard to be explosive (as you should be) before refining the ability to adjust the "volume knob" for the weight you're swinging. You need to load the movement adequately to develop it well.
 
Steve Freides said:
@TobiasNeuffer, it looks like you could use a heavier kettlebell and might benefit from that.

I don't know how long you've been swinging a kettlebell - please tell us.

What I see is that you'd benefit, with the weight you're using, from focusing on directing the force you're producing into the kettlebell..

-S-
Click to expand...
Thank you Steve!
I've been swinging on a regular basis for about a year now. It's not my main activity though, that would be gymnastic strength training (handstands and other bodyweight exercises, 4 times a week). I usually do a couple of sets of swings and get ups at the beginning of my training sessions. Can I switch to a heavier bell even though I can't really comfortably swing the 24kg one-handed yet and I just started to add my first rep of 24kg to my get ups?
What I see is that you'd benefit, with the weight you're using, from focusing on directing the force you're producing into the kettlebell.
Click to expand...
How exactly would I do that? Should I try to "push" the kettlebell with my hips?
 
@TobiasNeuffer, first focus on rooting your feet into the ground. Second, you can either think as I've suggested, that the force you're creating travels from your feet through your body and into the kettlebell, or you can try imagining throwing the kettlebell in front of you. The latter can be practiced in a safe place - actually throwing the kettlebell to the front, and doing this outside is usually the best place.

-S-
 
Brett Jones said:
Can we see your KB deadlift?

I think you need to get into a more athletic hinge and allow more "time" in your swing.
Click to expand...
Sure, here it is.


I am not quite sure what you mean by "athletic" (should I bend my knees more?) and "time" (should I wait longer before I hinge?)
 
Yes—bend your knees a bit more (it is ok to have some positive shin angle).

Athletic—it should look "effortless" not mechanical/ridgid

Time—it looks like you are trying to hit a high RPM (reps per minute) instead try to see how long it can take you to complete the reps not how quickly you can get them done.
 
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