The Tragic Truth About Joanna Gaines' Health Issues

Cheerleading brought Joanna Gaines a lot of enjoyment, but it also left her with lifelong health struggles. While her high school days are long behind her, Gaines' tragic back issues are anything but. Gaines has suffered from chronic back pain since then and has needed two separate surgeries to alleviate the damage. This means that the "Fixer Upper" star managed to become a successful multi-hyphenate and keep on top of it all with a bad back. Still, her ability to push through no matter what took its toll.

In 2021, Gaines felt the weight of all of her projects overwhelm her. That's when she realized she needed to focus on her well-being first. "I found myself in this place late last year. Unbalanced by how much I was pouring out without being poured into in the ways I really needed," she wrote in a Magnolia Journal essay (via People). "I was learning that a well that's only ever knee-deep can't outlast a drought and that I had to figure out what it was that would pull me out of the grind and give me renewed perspective."

Gaines turned her attention to activities that nurture her soul, like reading, gardening, cooking, and spending time in nature. "For weeks, I pored over books, threw my hands into the soil, and filled every surface of the house with jars for canning just about anything," she continued. She learned that the more she invested in herself, the more she had to give. When she forgets her lesson, her back reminds her to slow down. 

The basket toss is an iconic cheerleading stunt, but it comes with risks. As it involves at least three cheerleaders tossing another into the air, there are plenty of opportunities for injuries to happen. Joanna Gaines learned that the hard way, developing painful herniated discs from her basket toss gone wrong. "I've been dealing with it ever since," she captioned a December 2022 Instagram post. The pain has gotten to be too much at times, requiring two surgeries two decades apart.

She made the social media post on the heels of the second procedure, sharing a picture from the hospital bed (seen above). The first nearly ended Joanna and Chip Gaines' marriage before it had a chance to begin. "I had my first [microdiscectomy] in 2001 and had to cancel my second date with Chip Carter Gaines," she shared, referring to the minimally invasive procedure done to relieve pressure associated with herniated discs.

Luckily, they took a raincheck, even though Joanna almost didn't give Chip a second date for reasons entirely unrelated to her back. (She found him a bit too chatty for her liking.) She felt a spark nonetheless and didn't let her back get in the way. But it gave her more time to evaluate. The same was true for her second surgery. Taking place two weeks before Christmas, Joanna had no choice but to take it easy. "It has been a gift to simply stay put, stare at the wonder all around, and just be still," she wrote.