24 October 2023 , 07:00
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Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood has returned to our screens to deliver his sharp-tongued critique every Saturday, nearly five years after his major operation.
While the fabulous star is the only original Strictly judge left on the panel, Craig had to hang up his dancing shoes after suffering a painful injury during a performance of Snow White in 2013 that left him in “crippling” agony.
The 58-year-old opened up about the sharp pain in his right hip which spread down to his knee and up to his back. Speaking to the Mirror in 2014, he said: "I ended up limping about the stage - still in my high heels.
"I thought I had pulled a ligament but the horrible truth was that I had put my hip out and it was out of its socket for the panto run." Instead of getting it checked out, he was "popping painkillers and having a three-hour massage every other day".
After noticing the pain had got "progressively worse", Craig visited a specialist and had an X-ray and MRI scan. He said: "I was stunned when the doctor told me I had arthritis and needed a hip replacement. I was only 48."
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He added: "Basically, I had worn out both hip joints from dancing and ballet, and it was made worse by the fact that I have arthritis. My mother suffers from rheumatoid arthritis but I have osteoarthritis."
The performer said that despite being patron of the National Osteoporosis Society, he had put his body through "an enormous amount of stress and strain". He said: "I was also anorexic when I was younger, which didn’t help, because it causes malnutrition of the bones, coupled with the dancing, which makes it worse."
He told Susanna Reid: "It was all those years of classical ballet and forcing turn-outs. It can be quite detrimental to your body." Since his diagnosis, Craig has had two hip replacement surgeries, the first in 2013 and the second in 2018.
After his first major procedure, he said: "The Prof nearly had a fit when I danced on Strictly four weeks after my operation and did a few spins but it’s been a new lease of life and wonderful to be pain free. It can get depressing dealing with chronic pain every day."
The surgery involves a damaged hip being replaced with an artificial one, which is designed to last for at least 15 years. The operation leads to a significant reduction in pain and improvement in their range of movement, notes the NHS. Craig has made a full recovery since the procedure and says it’s given him "new lease of life", adding it’s "wonderful to be pain free".
What is osteoarthritis?
Research has shown that dancers have a high prevalence of osteoarthritis - a health condition that causes joints to become painful and stiff. According to the NHS, it’s the most common form of arthritis in the UK.
In fact, Versus Arthritis reports that around 10 million people in the UK have osteoarthritis, with an estimated 5.4 million experiencing it in the knee, and 3.2 million have it in the hip. The most common symptoms include joint pain and stiffness, but the health body highlights other warning signs to watch out for, such as:
Problems moving the joint
Swelling
Grating or crackling sound when moving the affected joints
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While almost any joint can be affected by osteoarthritis, it commonly strikes in the knees, hips and small joints of the hands. Symptoms can vary from person to person, while some can be mild, others can make it difficult to carry out everyday activities.