The 43-year-old singer had four operations on her back. She appeared on Loose Women to discuss her ‘painful’ recovery

S Club 7 singer Jo O’Meara had a ‘rough and painful’ time after undergoing a back operation six weeks ago.

The 43-year-old spent eight days at Queen’s hospital in Romford after surgeons removed part of a disc in her back.

She has been slowly recovering but it comes with good and bad days.

Appearing on Loose Women, the star explained: “I’m a lot better than what I was. Yeah, it’s been a really rough few months, to be honest. It’s been very painful. I’ve had good days and bad days with it.

“I think sometimes you just got to soldier through it and then other times you just want to know how long the pain is going to last.”

She had her first surgery in September and had four operations in total.

Jo had a ‘rough’ few months ( 
Image:
ITV)
The singer has been suffering from chronic back pain for decades and revealed she had issues with her back when she was in her early 20s.

After going to an osteopath, she was told she had a slipped disc.

“Te sciatica was horrendous. The pain was the worst,” Jo explained.

Following the operations, Jo was left to take a different number of pain medications, but none – including morphine – seemed to take the edge off her unbearable pain.

When she first felt the agonising pain last year, she thought she was having a convulsion as her whole body went into shock.

The Reach singer said she immediately rang for an ambulance and told The Sun : “I was sobbing and shaking. They came running in but I couldn’t move. Every time I tried to get off the bed I was screaming and sobbing in pain.”

She’s had four operations on her back ( 
Image:
Getty Images)

The star’s back pain started decades ago ( 
Image:
PA)
Surgery has left Jo facing months of physio before she can think about getting back on the stage and she will have damage to her right leg permanently.

Doctors have warned her that she may never return to her old ways. She explained how she knew something was severely wrong as she’s often struggled with back pain.

“I knew the feeling but it was ten times worse than what I’ve had before,” she explained. “Back surgery is so complex and every time they go in, they’re just weakening my back. I was absolutely petrified.”

When surgeons ran the risks by her, she admitted she immediately feared her career was over as many of the group’s tunes required free movement.

However, Jo knew if she didn’t have surgery then things could be a lot worse in the long term.