If you’ve seen Adele perform recently, you may have noticed a slight change in the way she walks. On New Year’s Eve, the Grammy-winning artist revealed why.
Working through the pain. Adele is getting candid about a health struggle that has been impacting her during her Las Vegas residency run.
While the “Easy on Me” singer was performing at her Las Vegas residency on New Year’s Eve, she hobbled across the stage, telling fans she suffers from chronic back pain and sciatica.
“I have to waddle these days as I have really bad sciatica,” the 34-year-old said, according to numerous social media videos from that night’s show at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace.
A video of Adele’s health news was posted to TikTok, during which she asks whether anybody else in the crowd has the condition, a question that received loud screams in response.
“What if it’s becoming more common because we all are sitting down on our asses all day,” she said.
Here’s what to know about the condition.
Sciatica, also known as lumbar radiculopathy, is a form of back and leg pain. The pain stems from the sciatic nerve, the body’s largest nerve and the main nerve in the leg that extends from the back of the pelvis to the back of the thigh, just below the knee. It also branches into several other nerves extending through your leg and your toes.
Symptoms usually appear as a form of back pain, with about 40% of people in the U.S. experience symptoms of the condition at some point in their lives, according to the Cleveland Clinic. But true sciatica – in which the nerve itself is irritated, inflamed, or pinched, is actually rare, the medical group said. It’s usually caused by a herniated or bulging spinal disk pressing on the nerve, but could also be caused by obesity, poor posture, nerve disorders, or other conditions.
Back in 2021, in an interview with The Face, the “Hello” and “Easy On Me” singer revealed that she has struggled with back issues since she was a teenager.
“I slipped my first disc when I was 15 from sneezing,” she said. “I was in bed and I sneezed and my fifth one flew out. In January, I slipped my sixth one, my L6. And then where I had a C‑section, my core was useless. … I’ve been in pain with my back for, like, half of my life, really. It flares up, normally due to stress or from a stupid bit of posture.”
According to AWM:
Adele famously lost a lot of weight. This success helped her deal with the pain she felt in her back. After losing a few pounds, Adele noticed that the pain that had always been there in her life was not as severe as it once had been. It was a major victory for the singer.
“Where I got my tummy strong, down at the bottom, which I never had before, my back doesn’t play up as much. It means I can do more. I can run around with my kid a little bit more.”
Watch the video below for more details:
