Brooke Shields' 'strength compromised' after she broke her femur
Brooke Shields is "all healed" after breaking her femur - but her "strength is really compromised".
The 56-year-old actress broke her thigh bone after she fell off a balance board whilst at a gym in New York in January 2021, which required multiple surgeries to fix.
However, just over a year later, she can walk properly, though certain things are strenuous for her.
She told the 'PEOPLE Everyday' podcast: "The bone is all healed and everything is sort of where it should be, and I don't walk with a limp anymore, but my strength is really compromised."
On rebuilding her strength and stamina, she added: "I thought I had my strength back until I started to try to do certain things.
"And so now I have to sort of amp that up a little bit."
The 'Suddenly Susan' star developed a staph infection that left her in “excruciating pain” following her surgery.
But through it all, Brooke refused to take anything stronger than over-the-counter drugs like Tylenol, because she was worried she would develop a reliance on opioids.
She said: "I didn't want to leave the hospital with no pain, get home, and think I was dying, because the pain was excruciating. I was like, 'I'd rather have excruciating pain in the hospital.'"
Brooke also wanted to make sure she was able to identify the differences between the pain from her original injury and anything new that could come up throughout her recovery process.
She added: "[I wanted to] get used to it and understand what's pain and what's further injury, because what happens is when you start to feel pain, you think you're injured again, but you might not be as injured. You just might be sore or in pain.
"I wanted to really understand what kind of pain it was, because when you leave, and you go home, and you feel pain, you get really scared. And I wanted to at least go, 'Oh, I felt that pain before. Okay.' You don't feel sort of like a victim to it."
The ‘Endless Love’ star found it difficult to convince hospital staff that she didn’t need painkillers.
She said: "I said, 'What's the over-the-counter thing that I can take at the highest dose where it's safe? And I won't leave with a prescription.' And everybody wants to give you Oxy."
