Selma Blair gives health update amid MS remission, says she hurts 'all the time'

"Still lucky. Still grateful. Still OK. But still a bummer."

January 31, 2024, 2:33 PM

Selma Blair is sharing a health update with fans.

The "Legally Blonde" actress, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2018 and has been in remission since 2021, shared a video to Instagram earlier this week in which she addressed the ups and downs of how she's currently feeling.

"I hurt all the time," she began. "I say that only for you people that hurt also."

Blair then opened up about living with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which the National Institutes of Health describes as "a group of disorders that affect connective tissues supporting the skin, bones, blood vessels, and many other organs and tissues."

Defects in connective tissues can cause a range of symptoms from "mildly loose joints" to "life-threatening complications," the NIH states.

"So the Ehlers-Danlos will make me really, really, really stiff, because I'll pull my muscles too easily and then they're, like, slack and sit there, so I get some injuries," Blair said.

The "Mean Baby" author continued, "But this is nothing that's like horrible, scary stuff or anything. It's just like one of those extra things that turns into a chronic thing, and you have to watch because people think stretching's so good for you and I'm technically not allowed to stretch because I'm always stretching."

PHOTO: Selma Blair appears in a video posted to her Instagram account.
Selma Blair appears in a video posted to her Instagram account.
@selmablair/Instagram

Blair said her MS is still "fine" and in remission, noting that she is due for another MRI and bloodwork.

MS, according to the NIH, is a neurological disease in which the immune cells in the body body injure myelin, the tissue that surrounds nerves, including those in the brain and spinal cord. It is a chronic disease, with no known cause and no known cure.

Blair added that her dystonia, a complication of MS, still comes and goes. Dystonia has multiple causes and is defined by the NIH as a movement disorder for which there is no cure. It can cause involuntary contractions in a person's muscles that are sometimes painful and can include tremors, voice problems or difficulties in walking, and can worsen over time.

"So I kind of don't mind talking about how strange that is because I know it can look weird," she said. "And when I didn't talk to anyone else that had MS or other things that might be like this, some neurological or other chronic things, I didn't know that it could come and go like that."

Overall, the "Cruel Intentions" actress said she is "doing well" but is "tired."

"I'm a beginner every day," she said. "There's no complaining, but I don't know if I'll ever have the coordination or balance or stamina that I want to."

Blair ended her post by saying, "Still lucky. Still grateful. Still OK. But still a bummer."