Janet Hubert’s disabling vertigo and muscle spasms! Know how she dealt with it with trigger point injections!

Updated On March 18, 2024 | Published By: shahid | In Career , Health , Legal

66-years old Janet Hubert is an American actress who had shot to fame for her cast as the original Vivian Banks or Aunt Viv in NBC’s sitcom named The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
She portrayed the character from its first season in 1990 to the end of its third season in 1993 in a total of 73 episodes.

She also did other TV series and films and is still active in the industry bagging few but significant roles.

However, Janet Hubert suffered from certain major health issues which affected her work and she was forced to quit work.

So what was this health concern that necessitated her to take medical care and also insurance claims?

Let us take a look at her those days which had boggled her down to the extent that she had to even take legal action against her insurance company.

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Janet Hubert’s disabling illness

Janet Hubert revealed in 2014 that she had been suffering for almost a decade from an incapacitating health problem. The origin was in 2004 when she was supposedly diagnosed to have ‘military neck’.

In this ailment, the body’s spine’s normal curvatures are lost. Due to this, there is hyperextension in the neck region (cervical region).

She sought treatment for it and this treatment was covered by her insurance company under the H&R employee plan of AFTRA.

Source: The real.com(Janet Hubert about her illness)

One year later, Janet started developing vertigo. In this, she used to feel whirling and loss of balance sensation. The vertigo was so severe that Janet was unable to drive.

She was advised by the doctor to sleep in the sitting position for 6 weeks; advice which she felt was useless as it failed to improve her condition. There was a worsening of her condition and she started getting ‘chattering of her jaw’ and could not comb her hair.

She could not touch her face and also had severe reactions to sound and light. She had muscle spasms that led to her mouth getting clenched involuntarily.

Janet Hubert’s treatment and lawsuit

Janet tried different treatment options and got some relief. The most relief she found was from trigger point injections into key areas of her facial muscles.

Her insurance company was covering her treatment initially but later in 2011 refused to do so stating that her treatment was more in terms of frequency and duration and also expensive to be covered under the plan.

The Insurance Company only agreed to cover 16 trigger point injections per year and anything beyond that would have to be paid out by her. She had repeatedly asked for an appeal but in vain. Hence she sued the company.

The lawsuit had said:

“She has been unable to accept numerous jobs. She has been forced to go on disability.”

Janet told RadarOnline at that time:

“There is a lot going on, health-wise. I have had a lot of issues over the years.”

She had added:

“I’d like my benefits back. That’s all. They’ve sort of denied me some very very important medical things that I need to feel good.”

However, she lost the case and 2 independent doctors opined that the treatment that she is taking has no evidence of being useful and hence the insurance company cannot pay for a treatment with doubtful benefits.

Also read Metabolic confusion diet: What is it? Is it safe? What are its health benefits?

What are these trigger point injections (TPI)?

TPI is a technique and an option for pain management. In this, injections are given at trigger points or knots of muscles that form when muscles do not relax.

These knots are felt below the skin and can also irritate the nerves around to give rise to intense pain. The injection is either a local anesthetic such as lignocaine or a simple saline (sterile salt solution) or corticosteroid.

This inactivates the trigger point and the pain disappears. Usually, there is sustained relief with a short course of injections.

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