While performing in Las Vegas over the weekend, Adele lightened the mood between her tear-jerking power ballads with some #relatable health news. In a video shared by an audience member on Twitter, she told the crowd that she always wears Spanx under her costumes, which led to an uncomfortable issue many stars of a different sort know all too well. “I sweat a lot, and it doesn’t go anywhere, so I’m basically just sitting in my own sweat,” she explained. “So my doctor [diagnosed] me [with] jock itch.”
“Do you guys know what that is? Jock itch? That sounds like I’m a big Nuggets fan, doesn’t it?” the singer continued jokingly, referring to the team that just won the NBA Finals. “It looks like I’m an athlete, basically.”
Jock itch is a fungal infection that develops in warm, moist areas of the body and presents as a sometimes ring-shaped, (yep) itchy rash, per the Mayo Clinic. It often affects the groin and inner thighs and is common in athletes who sweat a lot, hence the name. According to Mount Sinai, it can spread via unwashed clothes or skin-to-skin contact, and particularly bad cases may result in scaly patches that blister and ooze. With over-the-counter anti-fungal creams and proper hygiene (keeping the area clean and dry), jock itch typically clears up within one to three weeks, but if not, a dermatologist or primary care provider can suggest a prescription medication.
Adele didn’t share how long she’s dealt with the condition, but she did say her doctor prescribed a treatment to remedy her symptoms. “I have to squirt it on myself. I don’t know why the fuck I just told you that!” she laughed.
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This isn’t the first diagnosis the “Easy on Me” singer has revealed in her Las Vegas residency. During a New Year’s Eve performance last year, she told the crowd that “really bad” sciatica caused her to “waddle” around the stage. Sciatica is a broad term describing nerve pain that begins in the lower back and radiates into the hip or back of the thigh, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. The pain typically occurs when the nerve root in the lumbar spine is compressed by a herniated disk, an injury Adele told The Face she has experienced multiple times.
“I’ve been in pain with my back for, like, half of my life, really,” she told the outlet in 2021. “I slipped my first disk when I was 15 from sneezing. I was in bed and I sneezed and my fifth one flew out. In January, I slipped my sixth one, my L6. And then where I had a C‑section, my core was useless.” Strength training her core muscles relieved much of her discomfort, though it does occasionally flare up due to stress or “a stupid bit of posture,” she said.
Adele’s Vegas residency ends in November—here’s to hoping she finishes strong and healthy.
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