Selma Blair Reveals Daily Pain Battle in Vulnerable Video: 'I Hurt All the Time'
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The actress shares that she’s “still grateful” even as she struggles with pain caused by Ehler-Danlos syndrome
Selma Blair/Instagram
Selma Blair.Selma Blair posted a lengthy update on her health in an Instagram video Monday, where she shared that while she’s still in remission from multiple sclerosis, she’s in daily pain because she has Ehler-Danlos Syndrome.
“I hurt all the time,” Blair, 51, said. “I say that only for you people that hurt also. Like, I get it. And for all of us, just aging, it hurts. You have to stretch.”
But the problem for Blair, she explained, was that “It’s hard for me to stretch because of the Ehler-Danlos.”
Ehler-Danlos syndrome, or EDS, is a group of inherited disorders that affects connective tissue, like skin and the joints, the Mayo Clinic explains. Those with EDS often have “overly flexible joints and stretchy, fragile skin” — and this can lead to injuries, as “joints can move far past the normal range of motion. Joint pain and dislocations are common.”
“Your muscles just aren’t as stable,” the Cruel Intentions 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 slack and sit there. So I get some injuries.”
But Blair shared that she takes it in stride, adding, “This is nothing that’s like horrible, scary stuff or anything. It’s just like one of those extra things that turns into a chronic thing, and you have to watch, because people think stretching’s so good for you, and I’m technically not allowed to stretch, because I’m always stretching.”
As for multiple sclerosis, Blair shared “The MS in fine. I’m still in remission.”
“I still get tired, I still am stiff, like, all the time,” Blair explained in the video, filmed while she sat upright in a bed getting an IV, which she said “helps so much.”
She’s due for an MRI and blood work to continue monitoring her MS, but overall, the Hellboy actress said, “I seem to be doing fine.”
In fact, the actress recently took a trip to Washington, D.C., with her son Arthur, 12, calling the trip — where they visited historic sites like the Lincoln Memorial and the World War II Memorial, “a beautiful time.”
Selma Blair/Instagram
Selma Blair with son Arthur.“If I’m by myself, I do move and walk better,” Blair shared, adding, “I notice when I go out, it’s still very pronounced.”
As the Mayo Clinic explains, multiple sclerosis is a “potentially disabling disease” that impacts the brain and spinal cord, and happens when the immune system attacks the protective sheath that covers 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 ambulate at all. Other individuals may experience long periods of remission without any new symptoms.”
“I know it can look weird,” Blair said. “When I didn’t talk to anyone else that had MS…I didn’t know that it could come and go like that. I was used to things being a little bit more linear.”
As she joked, "I'm usually not faking, unless I just want to get out of school for the day."
And while Blair says “there’s no complaining” about her condition — “I am doing well" — she admits that “When people say, ‘What do you want to do with your life?’ It still makes me sad that I just want to sleep and then get on my horse and be better.”
“I’m a beginner every day. So it’s like, Groundhog Day — and I am doing really well [but]...I don’t know if I’ll ever have the coordination or balance or stamina that I want to.”
“Still lucky. Still grateful. Still okay,” she said, adding with a shrug, “But still a bummer.”
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