Travis Barker opens up about health troubles including severe nerve pain

2 October, 2023

Travis Barker of Blink-182

Travis Barker has revealed that he recently had an episode of trigeminal neuralgia, as well as a COVID infection and root canal treatment.

The Blink-182 drummer has been plagued by health issues in the last few weeks, joking to fans that it means he “can pretty much handle anything god throws at me”.

He wrote on Twitter/X on Friday (September 29): “Last week I had covid, an episode of trigeminal neuralgia, and a root canal. Which means I can pretty much handle anything god throws at me.”

Trigeminal neuralgia is described by the NHS as being “severely” painful. It’s caused by the compression of the trigeminal nerve and leads to facial pain so bad that it feels like “having an electric shock in the jaw”.

The drummer has suffered other health issues in recent months. In February he told his followers that he had dislocated and torn the ligaments of one of his fingers while rehearsing for Blink’s reunion tour with Tom DeLonge.

He then injured a finger again before managing to have successful surgery ahead of the tour.

Last month Barker revealed that he’d tested positive for COVID ahead of the band’s European tour dates.

Blink-182 are booked to play Lisbon’s Altice Arena tonight (October 2) for the first in a new run of dates on the continent as part of their ongoing reunion tour.

Judging by social media posts at the time of writing, the concert is still set to go ahead with Barker on drums. The band nor the venue has announced a cancellation.

It comes after Barker returned to the tour this month after his wife Kourtney Kardashian underwent “life-threatening emergency surgery” for their unborn baby. The incident meant that the drummer was forced to fly home from the band’s UK and Ireland tour, cancelling gigs in Dublin, Belfast and Glasgow.

Elsewhere in Barker’s update last week, the drummer spoke about still hating flying, 15 years after he survived a plane crash that left him with burns covering 65 per cent of his body.

“I still hate flying. I love touring and playing music but I unfortunately associate traveling and flying with death. I am strong and nothing can keep me from living life though,” he wrote.

The 2008 crash saw the plane’s two pilots and two of its four passengers killed instantly, with Barker and fellow passenger DJ AM suffering serious injuries. Barker then spent 11 weeks in a hospital, undergoing 26 surgeries a number of skin grafts.

Barker took his first plane journey since the tragedy in 2021.

Meanwhile, last month Blink-182 released ‘One More Time’ and ‘More Than You Know’, two brand new tracks from their upcoming album.

The post Travis Barker opens up about health troubles including severe nerve pain appeared first on NME.