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Lady Gaga has been hospitalised days after revealing that she has fibromyalgia, a form of chronic pain. Gaga was forced to cancel her performance at Friday’s 2017 Rock In Rio festival.
“Brazil, I’m devastated that I’m not well enough to come to Rock In Rio,” the Pokerface singer wrote on Instagram.
“I would do anything for u but I have to take care of my body right now. I ask for your grace and understanding, and promise that I will come back and perform for you soon. I’m so sorry, and I love you so much.”
A statement followed Gaga’s post stating that the singer is suffering from severe physical pain that has impacted her ability to perform.
The news of the singers hospitalisation came just after she announced that she would be taking a break from the music industry at the end of her current world tour.
One in five Australians live with chronic pain. Considering those numbers, it seems surprising that the condition is often dubbed the ‘invisible illness’. Lady Gaga – who seemingly has it all: Grammy awards, a Golden Globe, multiple million-dollar properties and a friendship circle made up of Hollywood’s biggest stars – speaks about her long-suffering chronic pain, it can be eye-opening for all of us.
WATCH Lady Gaga’s emotional speech after Golden Globe’s win. Article continues after video…
Lady Gaga’s new documentary will show her battle with chronic pain.
Throughout her rise to fame, singer Lady Gaga has been struggling with chronic pain. While the star has spoken about her chronic pain before, she has never spoken as candidly as she did at the premiere of her new documentary Gaga: Five Foot Two at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The visibly emotional singer, spoke about the misunderstood and overlooked issue of chronic pain and her experience of opening up about her pain, which she described as “hard, but liberating.”
“There is an element and a very strong piece of me that believes pain is a microphone,” she told the press conference.
“My pain does me no good unless I transform it into something that is [good].”
The singer broke down during a press conference when speaking about her on-going battle with the condition.
Gaga has linked the pain to having been raped at 19. She has said her chronic pain transpired from a “paralysing fear” she’d been suffering from the years since the attack. Injury or trauma can trigger post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which Gaga has said she suffers from, and the condition has been linked with Fibromyalgia, a form of chronic pain.
“When something traumatic happens, your brain disconnects so that it can handle it,” Gaga explained during an earlier interview with The Morning Show.
“But, it stays in your body, in your tissues, physically in you.”
At the press conference for the Netflix documentary Gaga: Five Foot Two, the Bad Romance singer acknowledged that some might not understand her pain given how she manages to produce such grand and energetic performances – and in those heels. But she wants to inspire people with her documentary, which closely follows her struggle.
“There’s a degree of self-deprecation and shame that goes along with feeling in pain a lot,” she said.
“I want people that watch it that think there’s no way I live that way because they see me dance and sing, to know I struggle with things like them and that I work through it and that it can be done.”
The film’s director, Chris Moukarbel, confirmed that it was difficult following the star during the making of her album Joanne in 2016, while she also sought treatment for chronic pain.
“It was incredibly hard, on a basic fundamental human level, to be near someone experiencing pain like that,” he said.
“There’s nothing you can do, beyond filming.”
“I felt I needed to continue to roll. She was very aware of people struggling with similar chronic pain.”
What is chronic pain?
The Australian Pain Management Association differentiates normal pain with chronic pain, should the pain persist past the normal healing time of three months.
Many who suffer can often feel frustrated due to a lack of diagnosis, as it can be difficult for doctors to pin point the cause of the pain.
This is due to the complexity of chronic pain, which involves the nerves and nervous systems, including the central nervous system made up of the brain and spinal cord.
‘Chronic pain occurs because of changes to the nerves or nervous system which keeps the nerves firing and signaling pain. However, there are likely to be other precipitating factors with chronic pain including genetics, gender and previous episodes of acute pain,’ reads the APMA site.
What are the symptoms of chronic pain?
Those who suffer from chronic pain may experience:
Mild to severe pain that doesn’t go away
Shooting, burning or aching pain
Feelings of discomfort, soreness, tightness or stiffness
These symptoms are often in conjunction with fatigue, sleeplessness, anxiety, stress, depression and irritability.
How do you treat chronic pain?
A range of oral and topical medications, as well as invasive and non-invasive treatments are available to treat chronic pain. As the disease can be so broad, it is always recommended that you to see your trusted doctor to find the right method for you.
Other chronic pain sufferers swear by the treatments of exercising, acupuncture, or relaxation methods such as meditation or yoga, or in Lady Gaga’s case, a mixture of infared sauna sessions and cold baths.
It’s about what works for you, so if you suffer from chronic pain, book in with your healthcare professional today.
