Coccyx

Looks like

The tailbone: three to five small fused vertebrae at the very bottom of the spine.

What it does

Anchors pelvic-floor muscles and ligaments and bears weight when leaning back.

Keeping it well

Bruised or fractured by a fall onto the bottom; coccyx pain usually settles over weeks with a cushion.

Related conditions

• Acromegaly
• Bone metastases and spinal cord compression
• Developmental dysplasia of the hip
• Fractures
• Fragility fracture
• Frailty & falls in older age
• Hyperparathyroidism
• Obstructed labour and obstetric fistula
• Osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease)
• Osteomalacia & rickets
• Osteomyelitis (bone infection)
• Osteoporosis
• Paget's disease of bone
• Pilonidal sinus
• Sarcoma
• Vitamin B1, C and other deficiencies
• Vitamin D deficiency