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Tarek El Moussa ‘Can Barely Walk’ After Back Injury But Afraid To Take Pain Meds
![tarek el moussa back injury afraid to take pain meds pp](https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/oaoWqwuZZ/480x251/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-pp.jpg 480w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/oaoWqwuZZ/640x335/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-pp.jpg 640w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/oaoWqwuZZ/768x402/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-pp.jpg 768w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/oaoWqwuZZ/1024x536/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-pp.jpg 1024w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/oaoWqwuZZ/1280x670/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-pp.jpg 1280w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/oaoWqwuZZ/1440x753/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-pp.jpg 1440w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/oaoWqwuZZ/1600x837/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-pp.jpg 1600w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/oaoWqwuZZ/2160x1130/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-pp.jpg 2160w)
May 4 2018, Updated 1:48 p.m. ET
Tarek El Moussa has given fans a devastating update on his health. After suffering through two bouts of cancer and a back injury, the Flip or Flop host revealed he has once again injured his back, and it is so painful that he “can barely walk.” In addition, Tarek admitted he is afraid to take pain meds, fearful that they will mess up his mental state like they did once before.
![tarek el moussa back injury afraid to take pain meds 02](https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/3Y2XhwsyN/480x307/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-02.jpg 480w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/3Y2XhwsyN/640x409/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-02.jpg 640w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/3Y2XhwsyN/768x490/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-02.jpg 768w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/3Y2XhwsyN/1024x653/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-02.jpg 1024w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/3Y2XhwsyN/1280x817/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-02.jpg 1280w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/3Y2XhwsyN/1440x919/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-02.jpg 1440w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/3Y2XhwsyN/1600x1021/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-02.jpg 1600w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/3Y2XhwsyN/2160x1378/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-02.jpg 2160w)
“Awful news...life has been going so well and I've been so happy and healthy! Unfortunately....I injured my back again....it's very scary,” Tarek captioned this photo of him in a hospital room.
![tarek el moussa back injury afraid to take pain meds 01](https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/tZ8gPprSj/480x307/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-01.jpg 480w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/tZ8gPprSj/640x409/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-01.jpg 640w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/tZ8gPprSj/768x490/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-01.jpg 768w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/tZ8gPprSj/1024x653/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-01.jpg 1024w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/tZ8gPprSj/1280x817/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-01.jpg 1280w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/tZ8gPprSj/1440x919/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-01.jpg 1440w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/tZ8gPprSj/1600x1021/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-01.jpg 1600w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/tZ8gPprSj/2160x1378/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-01.jpg 2160w)
“Last time I lost 50 pounds and was taking large amounts of pain meds to try and help the pain. Truthfully those meds really affected my mental and physical state and changed who I was,” Tarek wrote.
![tarek el moussa back injury afraid to take pain meds 03](https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/qx3oclABe/480x307/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-03.jpg 480w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/qx3oclABe/640x409/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-03.jpg 640w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/qx3oclABe/768x490/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-03.jpg 768w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/qx3oclABe/1024x653/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-03.jpg 1024w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/qx3oclABe/1280x817/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-03.jpg 1280w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/qx3oclABe/1440x919/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-03.jpg 1440w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/qx3oclABe/1600x1021/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-03.jpg 1600w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/qx3oclABe/2160x1378/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-03.jpg 2160w)
“Last time I hurt my back it took me a year and a half to recover,” Tarek continued. “As of today I can barely walk...I honestly can't even believe this is happening, I feel like it's a bad dream that I will wake up from.”
![tarek el moussa back injury afraid to take pain meds 06](https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/_RMsdxnsX/480x307/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-06.jpg 480w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/_RMsdxnsX/640x409/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-06.jpg 640w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/_RMsdxnsX/768x490/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-06.jpg 768w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/_RMsdxnsX/1024x653/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-06.jpg 1024w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/_RMsdxnsX/1280x817/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-06.jpg 1280w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/_RMsdxnsX/1440x919/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-06.jpg 1440w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/_RMsdxnsX/1600x1021/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-06.jpg 1600w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/_RMsdxnsX/2160x1378/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-06.jpg 2160w)
“I will be truthful and say I'm very down because of this,” Tarek admitted. “It is going to take a lot of positivity and strength to go through this a second time. I will stay positive and I will fight to get healthy again. I appreciate all the support. T.”
![tarek el moussa back injury afraid to take pain meds 04](https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/wZv32K-Gi/480x307/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-04.jpg 480w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/wZv32K-Gi/640x409/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-04.jpg 640w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/wZv32K-Gi/768x490/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-04.jpg 768w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/wZv32K-Gi/1024x653/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-04.jpg 1024w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/wZv32K-Gi/1280x817/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-04.jpg 1280w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/wZv32K-Gi/1440x919/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-04.jpg 1440w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/wZv32K-Gi/1600x1021/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-04.jpg 1600w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/wZv32K-Gi/2160x1378/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-04.jpg 2160w)
Tarek previously opened up about going through depression amid his many health crises, explaining that it was “worse than cancer.” He also admitted that pain meds turned him into a different person and were a contributing factor in his divorce from his ex-wife and HGTV co-host, Christina El Moussa.
![tarek el moussa back injury afraid to take pain meds 05](https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/wbq3AMT9e/480x307/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-05.jpg 480w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/wbq3AMT9e/640x409/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-05.jpg 640w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/wbq3AMT9e/768x490/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-05.jpg 768w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/wbq3AMT9e/1024x653/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-05.jpg 1024w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/wbq3AMT9e/1280x817/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-05.jpg 1280w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/wbq3AMT9e/1440x919/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-05.jpg 1440w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/wbq3AMT9e/1600x1021/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-05.jpg 1600w, https://media.okmagazine.com/brand-img/wbq3AMT9e/2160x1378/2018/05/tarek-el-moussa-back-injury-afraid-to-take-pain-meds-05.jpg 2160w)
What do you think of Tarek’s latest struggle? Sound off in the comments below.