TV presenter Melinda Messenger: My slipped disc caused me more pain than childbirth

THE TV presenter and former model tells our reporter the impact this common and debilitating back injury has had on her life.
I have always been fit and healthy,” says Melinda Messenger. “Cycling, running around after the family, doing yoga.” So when the 45-year-old TV presenter and former model woke up in agonising pain one morning last year she was baffled as to the cause.
“I couldn’t even walk,” says Melinda, who lives in Berkshire with her partner, skiing coach Warren Smith, and children Morgan, 16, Flynn, 15, Evie, 13, and Warren’s son Callum, 13. “I felt a horrible pain in my lower back and had a shooting pain down my right leg. It was excruciating. 
“Later that day Warren had to carry me into the doctor’s surgery, where I was given a load of pain medication and sent home. Yet when I got back, as I was sitting on a chair by the kitchen table, I was suddenly hit by this appalling pain. “I felt I had been cut in half.
I was then taken to hospital but actually passed out from the pain in the ambulance and when we got to the Royal Berkshire Hospital I was still screaming as they wheeled me in.
It was beyond awful.” After being given pain-relief injections Melinda had tests. An MRI scan revealed that she had ruptured a disc in the lumbar region of her back and the disc was pressing on nerves. 
A slipped disc (also known as prolapsed or herniated disc) occurs when one of the discs that sits between the bones of the spine is damaged and presses on nerves. The outer casing of the disc splits and the contents bulge out, causing pain locally in the area of the back that the disc is in, and also affecting the nerve supply to other areas of the body.
Professor Mark Wilkinson, a professor of orthopaedics at the University of Sheffield and spokesman for Arthritis Research UK, says: “Herniated or slipped discs are one of the most common causes of lower back and leg pain in adults in the UK.”
While surgery can be a successful option for some, the majority of people with back pain are able to recover or find relief through non-surgical methods and fewer than two per cent need to have an operation.
“Most people with back pain can relieve their symptoms through medication, physiotherapy and gentle exercise to strengthen the muscles and keep the joints supple,” explains Professor Wilkinson.
Melinda suffered a concussion after a fall on Channel 4’s The Jump two years ago but says nothing prepared her for the impact that having a slipped disc was to have on her life. 
“I had never experienced pain like this,” explains Melinda. “Having gone through labour three times and taken part on active shows such as Dancing On Ice and The Jump this was something else. “I had to be picked up by Warren as he took me to further appointments at the GP.
I was quickly referred for physiotherapy and not long after that to a pain management clinic. “I was also given a corset to wear to support my lower back which was helpful, and I wore it whenever I felt I needed to. Yet I couldn’t drive the children to school some days, I couldn’t work and gardening and cleaning the house were out of the question. 
I had to just lie and rest when the pain was acute. That went on for about a month. It was a challenging time.” With input from a physiotherapist and with medication, Melinda’s back began to slowly improve. “The pain clinic my GP referred me to was also very helpful, as some of the medication wasn’t agreeing with me.
“As a person who never took any pills and never went to the doctor, I had to learn that taking pain relief would help me sleep and let my body recover. I kept a pain diary so I could figure out what aggravated my back too. Another good thing about talking to someone at the pain clinic was that I could offload all my feelings of frustration.”
By Christmas last year Melinda was still having problems with her back. “I might have...
Roz Lewis

Other videos:
👉 Scientists reveal ‘overlooked’ GENETIC link to schizo