Jennie Garth Opens Up About 'Debilitating' Surgery in Transparent Health Update
Jennie Garth is opening up about the secret health issues she has been battling for years.
The '90s TV star recently sat down for an interview with Self magazine, where she revealed that she has had two hip replacements in her life, one when she was 48 and another just this past March.
While speaking candidly about it for the first time, Garth, 52, said she had experienced hip pain for a "very long time," but that it became "progressively worse through the years."
"It became so painful at one point that I couldn’t even go on a walk with my dogs," she remembered, noting that at the time she thought it might be arthritis, which both of her parents and sisters suffer from.
Unfortunately for the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum, her suspicions were correct. She was confirmed to have osteoarthritis in her thumbs, knees and hips after her doctor took an X-ray and an MRI.
"I remember him telling me so carefully and gingerly, 'I can see some arthritis coming,'" she recalled. "It was a scary thing to hear because the condition progresses and gets more debilitating—and I was only in my mid-40s at the time."
She eventually had her first hip replacement surgery in 2020, followed by another procedure in March 2024 after feeling "excruciating pain" in the same joint on the other side.
"The whole experience was, and still is, so discouraging," she candidly stated, adding that she still has to remind herself to be "gentle" with her own body.
"While recovery for the first hip replacement went remarkably well, the second, Garth says, was debilitating and often incredibly disheartening. Garth felt embarrassment and shame at being seen as “old,'" the social media post for Self read.
But even while talking about the "disappointing changes" that come with getting older, Garth wanted readers to know there's no need to place a stigma on joint replacements.
"This is something that doesn’t just affect 80-year-olds," she declared.
The Holidaze actress further admitted, "Truthfully, I was nervous to open up about my hip replacements. I’ve kept it a secret for so long, but I’m no longer at a place where I want to hide things."
Next: Jennie Garth Says She Receives Messages from Luke Perry Amid Moments of Doubt