Superheroes Get Hurt, Too
October 08, 2019
Superheroes are often characterized as invincible and able to withstand injuries.
The same doesn't go for the humans who play those superheroes, as actress Ruby Rose found out.
Rose recently shared on her social media that she sustained severe injuries to her back after doing stunts while filming for "Batwoman." The actress, who shared with fans on her Instagram page that she suffered two herniated discs that nearly severed her spinal cord, posted a picture of her surgical scar near her neck.
A herniated disc, also known as a bulging, slipped or ruptured disc, happens when the cartilaginous joints that cushion the vertebral discs of the spine become damaged and push into the spinal canal.
Untreated herniated discs can also cause a condition known as saddle anesthesia. In this situation, the herniated disc or discs press against nerves in the spine, causing numbness in the inner thighs, the back of the legs, the buttocks and rectum.
Severe herniated disks can cause permanent nerve damage. In some very rare cases, a herniated disc can block impulses to the cauda equina nerves in the lower back and legs, which can negatively impact bowel and bladder control.
Rose's situation was so severe that she faced the potential of paralysis. In her social media post, she shared that she had experienced chronic pain in her neck, back and shoulders and could not feel her arms.
In a video before her procedure, she told her doctor that her pain moved around regularly but stretched down her arms and even down her back to her ribs.
While the actress is unsure when she sustained the injury, she isn't a stranger to spinal procedures. Last year, Rose also needed spinal surgery to correct a long-standing back problem.
The treatment for a herniated disc is the discectomy procedure. During this surgery, the portion of the affected disc that is putting pressure on the nerve is removed.
Disectomies are relatively common procedures, with more than 130,000 performed in the cervical (neck) portion of the back per year. Lumbar (lower back) discectomies are more common, with over 480,000 procedures.
"Although these procedures are common, they still carry some risk for the patient," said Dr. Faisal R. Jahangiri of AXIS Neuromonitoring in Richardson, Texas.
It's this risk that AXIS manages by providing intraoperative neuromonitoring services in operating rooms.
"We help surgeons and patients by giving a more thorough patient-monitoring experience," Jahangiri said.
Using neurodiagnostic equipment, AXIS monitors changes in the patient that can happen during surgery.
"Pressure or movement in one area of the spine could negatively affect another part of the body," Jahangiri said.
These adverse effects could include muscle weakness, foot drop, difficulty moving limbs or problems walking.
"There's potential for complications when you're working anywhere close to the spinal cord," Jahangiri said.
Source:
Glamour. Ruby Rose Had to Have Emergency Surgery Following a Stunt Injury That Almost Paralyzed Her. 29 September 2019.
