Jayne Torvill: ‘Pea-sized’ lump on spine left star in ‘absolute agony’ – synovial cyst
Dancing on Ice: Jayne Torvill claims Lady Leshurr ‘cheated’
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We’re all used to seeing Dancing On Ice star Jayne Torvill pleasantly leaping across the ice with her partner Christopher Dean. But several years ago, she was literally “crawling out of bed” due to a “pea-sized” lump that grew on her spine known as a synovial cyst.
The ordeal, which she has since been open about, all started in 2012 during series seven of Dancing On Ice.
Torvill said she started to develop “chronic pain” in her lower back and “shooting pains in her leg” as she started the series.
“We had started working on a routine where I had to repeat an arched position, so I thought that triggered the pain,” she told the Mirror in 2014.
The physiotherapist on-site thought Torvill’s symptoms were down to wear and tear, so she kept pushing on with the show only to find that the pain severely worsened.
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“The pain became so chronic that I was in absolute agony, even after a night’s sleep,” she said.
“Experiencing severe muscle spasms in my lower back meant I was literally crawling out of bed every morning.”
Synovial cysts are lumps that are created because of the build-up of fluid in the joint. Most of these cysts develop on the lower spine. Most of the time they are painless but that certainly wasn’t the case for Torvill.
She was given anti-inflammatories and painkillers to help with her sleep but eventually was sent to a specialist for an MRI scan at a private hospital in Birmingham.
That’s where she was diagnosed with the lumbar synovial cyst – a condition she had “no idea” about.
“It was pea-sized and under the skin, so I would never have known about it if it weren’t for the scan,” she said.
Alongside the pain, Torvill found that the condition was extremely tiring and led to feeling depressed by the sheer pain of it.
But that didn’t stop her. Before she was cured, Torvill got through filming the series in 2012 and even performed live thanks to steroid injections.
The star was taken to hospital in the end and had the cyst removed using surgery, which went successfully.
“I was also given some exercises to do. They were basic and involved things like calf-stretching, but they were essential to getting my left leg back to full strength.
“The nerve pain had weakened my muscles and I was walking very slowly,” she added.
The most common surgery includes spinal decompression or decompression with a spinal fusion, according to Spinal Health.
However, there are alternatives to surgery for the condition.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends a procedure called image-guided needle drainage of spinal cysts.
This procedure takes place under local anaesthetic. A needle is inserted into the cyst and drains its contents while being observed by an MRI machine to monitor the drainage.
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