Dancing On Ice: Christopher Dean is impressed with Brendan
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In an interview with The Mirror, the skater described the damage years of dancing on the ice had done to his body. Dean, who was 60 at the time, said: “I am surprised I am still skating after all my injuries – and at my age as well. I still think I am 20 in my head but it’s the symptoms of an injury that bring me up with a jolt. You find you don’t bounce back as quickly.” A rotator cuff injury, bicep tendon tear, and shoulder joint injury are among the problems which have shocked the star’s body.
But the one thing that affects Dean’s ability to devilishly leap around during his dance routines is a spinal problem.
He described how he was cautious when he was starring in a panto as Cinderella’s fairy godparents, leaping around the stage in rollerblades.
He said: “We have not had any tumbles yet although I do have to be careful of my lower back. I’ve got a bulging disc but it’s not hurting me right now, luckily.”
A bulging disc is when one of the spongy discs in the spine becomes compressed.
Although they may not initially be painful, they can extend outwards and cause the outer wall to press on a nearby nerve, according to Dr Jean-Jacques Abitbol, an American orthopaedic surgeon.
As the disc deteriorates further due to wear and tear, this can lead to a herniated disc, also known as a ‘slipped disc’.
According to the Mayo Clinic, herniated discs mean there has been a crack in the outer wall of the disc’s cartilage, allowing some of the softer inner cartilage to protrude out of the disc.
Dr Abitdol states: “Whether a disc bulges or herniates, disc material can press against an adjacent nerve root and compress delicate nerve tissue and cause sciatica.”
Sciatica can cause severe pain along the path of the sciatic nerve–from the lower back, through the hips, buttocks, and down your legs.
Other consequences include numbness in your leg, a tingling type of sensation in your foot, leg and toes.
Typically, the pain is described as “burning”, “electric”, or “stabbing”, suggests the Cleveland Clinic.
The NHS states that the pain usually goes in four to six weeks but may last longer.
Your GP may suggest various exercises and stretches or prescribe painkillers.
If the pain becomes severe, you may be offered painkilling injections or a procedure to seal off the nerves causing the pain.
A bulging disc is not the only condition that has concerned Dean.
In the same interview, Dean revealed that he had a colon cancer scare in 2014 after his doctor found a polyp.
He said: “I had not long finished the final series of Dancing on Ice in 2014 when I started to get bad stomach pains. In fact, they were agonising.”
“Luckily, I was due to have a routine medical check-up and it involved a colonoscopy.
“When the results came back, they showed I had a 2cm growth, what is known as a polyp, on my colon.
“I was told about the various types of polyps – hyperplastic and inflammatory polyps do not carry a risk of developing into cancer, but my doctor was convinced I had a adenoma or adenomatous polyp.”
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