I swear, I’m not making fun of the older people or the people with back problems. My dad had bad back problems for all of my life, and I know the look of someone struggling with their back. And I’m here to tell you – George Clooney is in a lot of pain. He had a well-publicized problem with his back during and after filming on Syriana back in 2005 and Clooney claimed that he got everything taken care of back then. I didn’t believe him. It’s the way he walks, the pained expression he has when he thinks he’s not being photographed: he’s still struggling. Plus, I always thought that… er, how to say this? I always thought Stacy Keibler’s sexual “acrobatics” probably exacerbated his back problems. Since George has been with Amal Alamuddin, he hasn’t been photographed that much, but on those rare times when I do see photos of him, he’s always hunched over and walking like… well, an old man. Anyway, this happened:
Almost ten years after filming the Oscar-nominated movie, Syriana, George Clooney is still feeling the effects of his on-set injury.
E! News has learned the actor traveled to Duke University earlier this month and then to a hospital in Dusseldorf, Germany to get his back injury looked at.
After hurting his spinal cord while filming a particularly violent torture scene, the 53-year-old actor periodically loses spinal fluid. As a result, it’s routine for the actor to tend to the injury when it’s warranted.
Clooney’s rep could not be reached for comment.
Clooney has had to cope with lingering effects since the accident occurred in 2004. The back injury turned out to be a torn dura mater, a membrane that covers the spinal cord. Symptoms included severe headaches that give way to spinal fluid leaks. Along the way, Clooney has still been able to maintain a sense of humor about the injury.
“What you learn after you’re 40 is it’s just about plugging up holes in the boat,” he told Men’s Vogue in 2005.
E! News can confirm Clooney is back in Italy relaxing comfortably.
Yep, pretty much. Despite statements to the contrary over the years, George is still in bad shape and he’s still feeling those old injuries. I feel sorry for him. I feel sorry for Amal Alamuddin a little bit too – she’s looking less like the power-partner and more like his pretty nursemaid.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
Oh man, I feel for him. Both my parents suffer from chronic pain (hip and back respectively) and it just is the worst. It never goes away. Never.
I hope he gets some relief.
My dad recently started having hip problems and thinks he may eventually need surgery. I feel so bad for him…he’s cranky all the time because of it.
Yeah, the thing with the hips is the cartilage and muscle just wears away and it just becomes bone on bone and the pain is unreal. But the thing it is, a replacement will only last 10-15 years so if your under 60 or 65 the chances could be you would need to replace the replacement. It’s just a cycle of crap. I hope your Dad feels better!
Actually, there have been advancements in the materials used for the prosthetic hips used in a hip replacement and the new ones have a significantly higher lifespan. In this case, if Half-Life isn’t going to be as much of an issue I’d say get the hip replacement over with, as you’d be astounded at the difference in quality of life.
@TOK, if your father hasn’t seen an orthopedic surgeon yet, encourage him to do so. It may simply be bursitis that’s causing his pain. Or, he could get a steroid injection that takes about five minutes.
Hip replacements can now last much much longer. My husband had a hip replacement in his early 50’s. He just recently had a checkup. They are telling him he should get another 20 years out of it. That would give this particular replacement a 30.year life.
I’m 24… I was diagnosed with arthritis in some of my back joints (injury related) when I was about 20/22 (but had had the problem since high school when I injured it) and my god, back pain is terrible. Unfortunately, when my joints get inflamed, it seems to affect the nerve that runs down along my hips and to my knees. There are nights that I have trouble sleeping because I can’t find a comfortable position. I am NOT looking forward to old age.
I have nerve issues related to a damaged back as well and it really sucks. I can empathize. I’m currently on the highest dose of gabapentin that is medically approved but I still get periodic bouts of nasty nerve pain. I know that if I fall asleep on my left side, I’ll wake up shortly in agony. I’ve found a body pillow can help me get comfortable.
Erinn, nerves and muscles, tendons and ligaments can be afflicted by the whole process too, but the pain can be alleviated and the inflammations slowed down.
I was born with ankylosing spondilitis, a genetic deficiency, and it was only found out in my early twenties, when I suffered from unbearable pain while working as a ballet dancer. I work in medical research now, and scientists have come a long way since then. I am still walking upright, thanks to a regime of light daily exercises, and while I sometimes can’t use my hands the way I’d like to, or hate climbing stairs, things are much better that I initially imagined, roughly 30 years after being diagnosed.
I’ve had chronic back pain for over twenty years, I’m not looking forward to aging into more pain. The only things that have helped me are exercise and learning some pain management techniques. No prescriptions seem to work for me, they sometimes lessen the pain but it never goes away completely. Yoga, walking and core strengthening have helped me the most. Learning a mental technique to “turn down the volume” of the pain helped, as did making the decision to not allow back pain to rule and define my life. Chronic pain sucks, I wish no one had to suffer from it.
TOK, if it’s of any help, if your Dad ever goes in for any kind of hip replacement, the results are pretty astonishing; I’ve had a couple of family members who’ve had full and partial replacements and it’s given them a new lease of life and their mobility is ten times better than it was.
I’m thoroughly jealous, since my Dr advised me against going for a replacement too early (I’m 22). Which is kind of sh*tty, but hey. Better start plugging those leaks early, right Erinn?
I saw a strange prototype of a bed a few months ago to make sleeping with chronic pain easier – parts of the mattress were chopped out so any dodgy joints/pains can fall in the gap so you don’t put weight on them.
I have back problems myself. Have since a car accident about 10 years ago. And its just terrible so I feel for him. And he’s able get it fixed so he can enjoy some wedding night nookie…….good for him.
I used to have back problems two, three times a day. Rehab and lots of training muscles to do the right thing in the right sequence later, WOO HOO. Now I have a problem about once a year or so. Back problems are just terrible. (Weak hip muscles do not help much either.)
I’ve had back problems too, though thankfully not as bad as Clooney’s seem to be (I sprained it twice in 3 years and then mildly strained it again a year or so later). I can totally sympathize with anyone who’s going through that, because it is so awful! Nowadays I have to be careful just making the bed, because if I lean over too far it might hurt my back again…and I’m not even 40, yeesh.
So yeah, if GC can get it taken care of, good for him.
I do feel sorry for him because there is nothing worse than having a dodgy back and going from a to b to c and back again for some sort of relief spending lots of time and money in the process. Backs are notoriously hard to treat.
Neither woman mentioned in your article comes off looking well – stacy and her “sexual acrobatics” and Amal the “nursemaid”. tut tut.
Someone told me a while ago that the worst place to get hurt would be your back. I’m sure dating considerable younger women could also aggravate it as well.
it will be easier to get married chewing straight through the oxycontin
I injured my back while in the military a few years ago and have ended up needing strong pain meds, muscle relaxer and nerve meds to be functional. I get steroids injected into my back several times a year. Nothing helps for long. Some days I can fake normal, other days I limp and slouch and pray for death.
I feel for you, George. But I’m glad he has the money and means to seek the best treatments available. Not all of us are that fortunate.
That would be awful – what’s up with the flip-flops though – he needs better footwear esp. With the back issues……
Exactly.
Good point – I’ve had back problems for almost 10 years, and shoes make a difference. Flip flops and Uggs are the worst, according to my Dr.
I have always thought his inability to maintain a long term relationship was somehow connected to his bad back. I don’t think Clooney is the lover he wants everyone to believe he is.
His back injury was exacerbated by the fact that he refused to take pain medicine due to an addiction issue (alchohol?). It is possible for an alcoholic to responsibly use narcotic pain medicine, but I respected his refusal to do so.
You may be thinking of someone else. Not only is Clooney well known for liking a drink or two (remember when Danny DeVito showed up drunk on The View? He was drinking Limoncello with Clooney the night before) but he and Gerber actually have their own brand of tequila.
He won’t take painkillers because he saw what they did to his aunt, Rosemary Clooney. He has no addiction issues himself.
Opiate prescription painkillers exacerbated my pain. They also altered my personality and made me stupid. Opiate painkillers are way overprescribed and I commend anyone who refuses to take them. My experience with them is 100% horrific, and that’s pretty common. I’d lay good odds that Clooney would be in more pain — and definitely have a worse life — if he took that crap.
I had my hip replaced at 38 and it helped with my low back problems. Seriously, the best thing I could have done- pain free now for 4 years!
Thanks be to Ceiling Cat he gets some sympathy……twas a pleasant surprise not to see accusations that he’s just copying JFK!
Major bummer, the auld back……it’s stunningly hard to relieve it without opiates, or a very skilled McTimoney practitioner. I hope he’s ok again soonest.
I think this might be where his regular surgeon lives, he was in Düsseldorf 2 years ago for a few days, for no apparent reason, fans assumed he was looking at locations for a new movie. He was probably having minor surgery then as well. Lots of internet comments are saying why wouldn’t his surgeons be in the USA, simple….. the one in Düsseldorf is probably the best in the world for his problem, after all it was US doctors who left his problem untreated for months until they finally stopped dismissing his complaints as minor when spinal fluid started leaking out of his nose.
Back pain is the absolute worst. I herniated a disk in my lower back almost 10 years ago and I’m 95% recovered from it but from time to time the other 5% still gives me hell. I’ll get a dull constant pain in my lower back which will hang on for months and then all of a sudden go away and I’ll be pain-free for months. It’s something I’ve learned to live with.
Why is this story coming out now? We’ve known for years Clooney suffers from headaches from his spinal injury.
There are no pics of him leaving the doc’s office or even a mention that he was in Düsseldorf. Call me cynical, but are we now to feel sorry for him for some reason? Or is this just one more story to keep Clooney in the press.
so agree with this