Selma Blair opened up about her health in an Instagram video on Monday, sharing that while she’s still in remission from multiple sclerosis, she’s in daily pain because she has Ehler-Danlos syndrome.
“I’m in constant pain,” Blair, 51, said. “I’m just saying that for you people who are hurting too. Like, I get it. And for all of us, aging itself hurts. You have to stretch.”
But the problem for Blair, she explained, was that “it’s hard for me to stretch because of Ehler-Danlos.”
Ehler-Danlos syndrome, or EDS, is a group of inherited disorders that affect connective tissue, such as the skin and joints, the Mayo Clinic explains. Those with EDS often have “excessively flexible joints and stretchy, fragile skin” — and this can lead to injury, as “joints can move far beyond their normal range of motion. Joint pain and dislocations are common.”
“Your muscles just aren’t as stable,” he said Cruel intentions the actress explained.
“So the Ehler-Danlos makes me really, really, really stiff because I’ll pull my muscles too easily and then they’re like relaxed and they stay there. So I get some injuries.”
But Blair said she was taking it in stride, adding: “This is nothing that’s horrible or scary or anything like that. It’s like one of those extra things that turns into a chronic thing that you have to watch, because people think that stretching is so good for you, and I’m technically not allowed to stretch, because I’m always stretching.”
Selma Blair ‘cried’ after doctor suggested she find a boyfriend as she sought help for ‘excruciating’ MS pain
Regarding multiple sclerosis, Blair said: “MS is fine. I’m still in remission.”
“I’m still tired, I’m still stiff, like, all the time,” Blair explained in the video, filmed as she sat up in bed getting an IV, which she said is “helping a lot.”
She should have an MRI and blood work to continue monitoring her MS, but in general, Hell the actress said: “I seem to be fine.”
In fact, the actress recently took a trip to Washington, DC, with her son Arthur, 12, calling the trip — where they visited historic sites like the Lincoln Memorial and the World War II Memorial — a “lovely time.”
Selma Blair with her son Arthur.
Selma Blair/Instagram
“If I’m alone, I move and walk better,” Blair said, adding, “I notice it’s still very pronounced when I go outside.”
As the Mayo Clinic explains, multiple sclerosis is a “potentially disabling disease” that affects the brain and spinal cord and occurs when the immune system attacks the protective sheath that covers the nerves.
Symptoms vary depending on the severity of the disease, but according to the Mayo Clinic, “some people with severe MS may lose the ability to walk independently or move at all. Other individuals may experience long periods of remission without any new symptoms.”
“I know it might seem strange,” Blair said. “When I didn’t talk to anyone else who had multiple sclerosis…I didn’t know it could come and go like that. I’m used to things being a little more linear.”
Selma Blair says she’s doing ‘great’ with MS in remission, but managing symptoms continues to get ‘difficult’ (Exclusive)
As she joked, “I don’t usually cheat, unless I just want to get out of school for a day.”
And while Blair says there’s “no appeal” to her condition — “I’m fine” — she admits that “When people say, ‘What do you want to do with your life?’ What makes me sadder is that I just want to sleep and then get on my horse and get better.”
“I’m a beginner every day. So it’s like, Groundhog day — and I feel very well [but]…I don’t know if I’ll ever have the coordination, balance or endurance that I want.”
“I’m still lucky. Still grateful. It’s still okay,” she said, adding with a shrug, “But it’s still a shame.”
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Source: HIS Education