Ellen Degeneres describes Covid-19-related back spasms: ‘It felt like I’d cracked a rib’
'It's the only symptom I had,' talk show host says. 'I didn't have a headache. I didn't have a fever. I didn't lose my sense of taste, although I did wear Crocs with socks for a day, so you be the judge.'
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Your support makes all the difference.In her first show back after being diagnosed with Covid-19, a now-recovered Ellen Degeneres talked about her experience with the illness on the first 2021 episode of The Ellen Show.
"Obviously there's a lot of negative things going on, so I want to talk about something positive – my Covid test,” she cracked on Wednesday (13 January). “I'm fine now, I'm all good. Everything's clear.”
Describing the moment in December she found out she'd tested positive for the virus, the talk show host said, “I was getting ready to tape the show that you were going to be here for, and I was in hair and makeup, getting my face powdered and my extensions put in and then my assistant, Craig, walks in and says, 'You've tested positive for Covid'. And then everyone around me ran away. It's funny, people just really get scared. Some have not come back since.”
DeGeneres also talked about her symptoms, which did not include some of the virus’ telltale signs like headache and loss of taste. She did, however, suffer intense back spasms that "felt like I'd cracked a rib”.
Read More: The Ellen DeGeneres Show prolongs hiatus due to Covid surge
“It's the only symptom I had,” she said. “I didn't have a headache. I didn't have a fever. I didn't lose my sense of taste, although I did wear Crocs with socks for a day, so you be the judge.”
To combat the pain, she was prescribed a painkillers and muscle relaxers, to which she joked, “Jackpot! This thing is finally paying off.”
When the pain medication didn't work, Degeneres' doctors put her on a steroid patch, which helped, she said, although she felt the side effects made her "really speedy and really edgy”.
Degeneres also said that she still didn't know where she contracted the virus.
“The weird thing is, I don't know where I got it. I still don't know where I got it. I wear a mask. I wash my hands. I only licked three or four door handles. It's a mystery to me,” she said.
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