Thursday, 23 November 2006

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Sarah Cawood: I live with constant back pain

A spinal condition put her ballet dreams to bed

When Sarah Cawood started out in television in the 90s on Channel 4’s The Girlie Show, she quickly earned the image of being a ladette.

And yet, in stark contrast, Sarah had once dreamt of pursuing a professional ballet career until the diagnosis of a spinal imbalance at the age of 18 forced her to re-evaluate her career path.

Being a ballet dancer was my ultimate dream - until scoliosis

‘Ballet was my life when I was at school and I always wanted to be a dancer,’ says Sarah. ‘Discovering I had a back problem was heartbreaking.’

Sarah had been dancing from the age of seven and the problems with her back only became apparent 10 years later, after she was accepted into the prestigious Royal Ballet School. She was put through strenuous dance classes, so when she began suffering from lower back pain, Sarah put it down to the training.

But a year later a medical examination at a dance audition revealed the truth.‘I was examined by an osteopath, who said I had a mild case of scoliosis, meaning my spine curved slightly to one side,’ she explains. ‘It’s not severe and wouldn’t bother anyone else, but it’s a problem if you’re a dancer. My back was hurting so much because forcing my turnouts – in which you place your feet at right angles to your body – was putting an enormous strain on my spine and muscles, resulting in the backache.’

As if this news wasn’t bad enough, Sarah then suffered a back injury that was to set her dance training back a whole year.

‘The osteopath at an audition decided to manipulate my spine in an attempt to improve my flexibility,’ she explains. ‘But when I woke up the next day I was in so much pain that I couldn’t even walk, let alone dance.’

A hospital scan revealed that two disks in Sarah’s spine had been irritated and were rubbing against each other. ‘For the whole of the next year I was immobile as a dancer because the only treatment was to rest and work at strengthening the muscles in my tummy and back,’ she explains.

‘It was so frustrating sitting there watching everyone dancing and not being able
to take part.’

I'm lucky my TV career has gone well

Looking back now, 33-year-old Sarah is remarkably philosophical. ‘I’m not sure I’d have made a brilliant dancer because I didn’t have the core muscle strength,’ she says. ‘I’m just lucky that my life panned out the way it did with my career in TV or it could have turned into a big regret.’

Sarah continued to dance until her early twenties, then she was offered a TV presenter’s job on children’s TV channel Nickelodeon, which led to The Girlie Show and stints presenting the BBC’s Top Of The Pops and Live And Kicking. But while her TV career has come on in leaps and bounds, her back condition still plagues her.

High heels are a no-no

‘My back aches almost all the time and I have to be careful what I wear on my feet – for instance, stilettos are out of the question unless I’m going out somewhere really posh. I can’t even sit in one place for too long,’ she says.

‘Sitting through ceremonies like the BAFTAs in nearly cripple me with pain because they can last for hours – I end up getting sciatica down my left leg and a headache. I usually go home and miss the aftershow party.’

Sarah has to take painkillers when her backache becomes really agonising. She also carries heat pads with her on flights or when she knows she’s going to be sitting down for a long time.

A positive attitude is the way forward

This year, after aggravating her back condition again, she’s started alternative treatment to help manage her pain and improve her back strength.

‘I decided I needed to get fit and started going to the gym, but it caused my back pain to flare up,’ she says. ‘I went to see an osteopath, who told me I was doing the wrong kindof abdominal exercises. He advised me to work on my core strength, which includes the pelvic floor muscles and the muscles near the spine. That will help support my back and hopefully decrease the backache I suffer.’

Sarah sees the osteopath every week – he helps to stretch out her muscles in a bid to loosen up her spine. But despite the pain that she has to live with every day, the bubbly presenter refuses to let it affect her life.

‘It’s not as bad as some people’s back conditions and I just get on with things,’ she says. ‘Besides, I’m single, so at least I can’t damage it further through over-exuberance in bed!’

For more information about back pain contact BackCare at www.backpain.org.uk or 0870 9500275.

Rachael Woolston