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Suggest Remedies For Protruding Coccyx Tailbone In An Elderly Person
Question: I have a protruding coccyx bone. It has not bothered me much through life, except now as I am older (60) when I sit on my tailbone it causes me to involuntarily go to sleep. I shift from side to side to avoid this but wondered if you could shed some light on why it does this.
Brief Answer:
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I was really taken with such a puzzling symptom, I must say that I have never had a patient complain about that before.
I also did some research of the literature for any such reported cases in medical databases. I must say though that I found no such reports, nothing of the kind has been reported. Anatomically speaking also there is no connection between the sacro-coccygeal area and sleep, sleep centers are located in the brain and bear no functional relation whatsoever with the sacral area where there are only peripheral nerves which are responsible for bladder control and perineal area sensation.
So I do not think there is any direct relation between the two and I doubt any colleague of mine can establish any such relation. The only hypothesis is that the relaxed state when sitting makes sleep easier. If this falling asleep is an issue then other causes for increased sleepiness should be looked into starting with sleep apnea as the most common one.
I remain at your disposal for other questions.
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I was really taken with such a puzzling symptom, I must say that I have never had a patient complain about that before.
I also did some research of the literature for any such reported cases in medical databases. I must say though that I found no such reports, nothing of the kind has been reported. Anatomically speaking also there is no connection between the sacro-coccygeal area and sleep, sleep centers are located in the brain and bear no functional relation whatsoever with the sacral area where there are only peripheral nerves which are responsible for bladder control and perineal area sensation.
So I do not think there is any direct relation between the two and I doubt any colleague of mine can establish any such relation. The only hypothesis is that the relaxed state when sitting makes sleep easier. If this falling asleep is an issue then other causes for increased sleepiness should be looked into starting with sleep apnea as the most common one.
I remain at your disposal for other questions.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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