Teen Mom alum Jenelle Evans broke down in tears while giving fans an update on a painful, ongoing health battle stemming from complications after knee surgery earlier this year. In a video posted to Instagram on September 8, the 34-year-old explained that she's been diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome, or CRPS, a rare chronic pain condition that typically develops after an injury or surgery and causes pain disproportionate to the original injury.
Evans said the diagnosis followed knee surgery in April 2026, after she noticed her leg wasn't healing properly. Her surgeon referred her to a pain management clinic, where she recently received a steroid injection in her lower back, a treatment that, rather than helping, appears to have worsened her condition significantly. "I have been in excruciating pain ever since, which led me to go to the hospital," she said.
She described being in near-constant pain now stretching from her skull to her tailbone, on top of the ongoing pain in her leg, and said doctors have also identified a growing syrinx, a fluid-filled cyst, on her spinal cord that has expanded from 2 to 4 millimeters. Despite doctors encouraging her to stay active and get in the water, she said even droplets from the shower are enough to inflame her leg, and she now needs crutches to get around, though the new back pain has made even using crutches painful.
Evans described the ordeal as one of the hardest things she's ever gone through, particularly given how long it's taken to get concrete answers, and said she's begun seeing a therapist to help process the emotional toll. A mother of three, she said her therapist has reassured her that improvement is possible, and she's asked her followers for any advice on coping with the condition.