Worse pain after steroid injection in coccyx
26F. My tailbone pain started roughly 4 months ago in January 2026. One fine day, I just couldn’t sit without pain in my tailbone. I got an MRI (nothing abnormal was seen) and an x-ray which suggested:
“Last piece of coccyx is angulated posteriorly in sitting position(shown by arrow). Large osteophyte
formation seen at sacro-coccygeal junction.
There is no evidence of any lytic or expensile lesion seen.”
After a month of pain, I went to a spine doctor who suggested I sit only on a coccyx cushion and start kegels. I tried that but the pain stayed and even worsened over time. Now every time I was sitting on the cushion, my butt felt even more pressure on the part that was hurting. It was only better when I was either lying down or sitting on one butt at a time.
Then I went to another doctor who suggested a steroid shot especially in because in 1 week I’m traveling to Europe for a month. This trip will involve a lot of sitting, activity etc.
So I got the steroid injection 48 hours ago. Ever since, my pain has shifted a little above the original pain point and become much worse. It used to only hurt when I was sitting/putting pressure on it. But now after the injection, the tailbone and butt hurt even when I’m laying down, trying to get up from a sitting position, laying back, sometimes even when I keep my legs wide.
I texted my doctor who said sometimes this happens after an injection and to wait 2-3 days. But I’m very scared - can a steroid shot actually make your pain worse in the long run?
The last resort if this doesn’t work out is a surgery where they remove the last piece of my coccyx. What is the recovery time for this? Would anyone recommend it?
Any advise would help!!!