Selma Blair’s “Pinched Nerve” Turned Out to Be a Much More Serious Condition!

2019 has so far been a busy year for American actress Selma Blair. The film awards season particularly kept her occupied, along with guest appearances and other work-related commitments. The actress shocked the world when she attended the Vanity Fair Oscars Party, her first ever public appearance using a cane, and a few days later was on Good Morning America.

Selma Blair, 2019

Though Blair has always been candid on social media about her multiple sclerosis (MS) ever since she was diagnosed with the condition last year, it was on this show that she spoke about it on camera for the first time.

Emotional Interview

Naturally, the interview was filled with emotion as Blair narrated how the chronic condition has changed her life completely. Her host, Robin Roberts, did an excellent job of providing an enabling environment for the actress to open up.

Ever since giving birth to her son in 2011, Blair revealed, she had been struggling with undiagnosed MS symptoms. However, she had a hard time convincing doctors that her flare-ups were serious. She struggled for almost a decade, with 2018 the year she was finally diagnosed. According to Selma, an MRI done last year revealed 20 MS-related lesions on different parts of her brain.

Selma Blair ice skating in Los Angeles with her son

Sigh of Relief

How would you react to such a diagnosis? For the actress, she was first hit by a sense of relief. Finally, she knew what was wrong with her body and could now do something about it. Though she cried when she heard the diagnosis, she cites it was out of relief.

The diagnosis came on August 16, 2018, and the Cruel Intentions actress shared the news with her fans two days later, posting a picture of herself on Instagram, followed by an emotional caption. In the post, she acknowledged Alisa Swanson, a costume designer who was dressing her for an upcoming Netflix show, for helping her dress up and steady herself.

Selma Blair says that she is trying to stay positive about her health and live her best life despite this condition

Selma then went on to divulge that she had been diagnosed with MS which makes her feel disabled; she occasionally falls or drops things, and suffers from brain fog. The left side of her body has probably been affected the most, almost losing the sense of direction. All in all, she took the diagnosis with a pinch of positivity, stating that she would do her best to live with the condition.

According to the Legally Blonde star, she initially thought she had a pinched nerve. A friend, Elizabeth Berkley, suggested that she visit her brother, Jason Berkley, who’s a neurologist in Los Angeles. Dr. Berkley was the one who confirmed the MS diagnosis after finding lesions in Selma’s brain. As she wrote on Instagram, the symptoms she had carried for years had never been taken seriously by any medical professional, until she fell in front of Dr. Berkley.

According to Dr. Amit Sachdev, associate medical director for the department of neurology and ophthalmology at Michigan State University, the difference between a pinched nerve and MS is that the former causes numbness in a limited area of the body, while the latter encompasses more extensive areas such as entire limbs.

MS is a disabling disease characterized by one’s immune system attacking their nerve endings in the central nervous system, disrupting the flow of information between one’s brain and their body.