The actress didn’t want to take drugs after breaking her femur and developing a staph infection because she wanted to “understand what’s pain and what’s additional injury”.
In a car accident in January, Brooke Shields broke her femur, necessitating numerous surgeries. Later on, she developed a staph infection that caused “excruciating” pain. Even so, the actress decided against using prescription medications while she was recovering.
Shields, 55, asserts that she has only ever taken over-the-counter medications like Tylenol because she is worried about becoming addicted to opiates like OxyContin or Vicodin.
In The Marie Claire Power Trip, I Will: Off the Lattice, she says, “I would have rather not left the clinic with no aggravation, get back, and think I was biting the dust because the aggravation was so awful. I allegedly said, “I’d prefer to be in dreadful pain in the hospital. ”.
Additionally, safeguards were required to ensure that she could distinguish between the pain she was experiencing at the time and any potential future aggravations as she recovered.
I had to get used to it and learn the difference between pain and new damage because when you’re in pain, you automatically assume you’ve been hurt again, even though you might not actually be as badly hurt as you might think”.
In her own words, “I wanted to know what kind of misery it was because when you leave and go home and feel suffering, you get terrified. I wanted to at least acknowledge that agony by saying, “Oh, I remember when that was there. Despite this, you don’t feel like a victim. ”.
The mother of two had trouble convincing the medical staff, though, when she asked them, “What over-the-counter drug can I take at the most significant safe dosage?”. I queried. I also won’t have a prescription with me. You will be offered OxyContin by everyone.
The national opioid abuse epidemic, according to Shields, is “part of the overall opioid pandemic”.
She is very clear that her choice to abstain from opioid use is not being motivated by “being a hero”.
“The message is something along the lines of, “Tune in, and then give your best for not feeling it without going to something that could unquestionably be more unsafe. Options include ice, physical therapy, stretching, Advil, or Tylenol. She continues, “I would also take Tylenol PM if I had trouble falling asleep at night”.
Shields has advanced considerably in the time since the tragedy. Despite having “come a long way,” she still experiences “a lot of bone pain,” and she was shocked by how much less mobile she was.
I can finish a SoulCycle because there isn’t any impact. Being able to do Pilates is fun for me. Following that, my trainer primarily focuses on the physical therapy component of the procedure, which, in her opinion, involves working the muscles around my knees, which is where the issue is. Weight training is meant to build muscle without harming the ligaments and joints that support my joints. I have learned a great deal.
