Travis Barker explained the hospital photos that left fans concerned earlier this week. The Blink-182 drummer revealed Wednesday, October 7, that he underwent surgery after experiencing numbness in his arm, hand, and fingers following a recent show.
Barker, 50, shared the update on Instagram alongside another hospital photo with wife Kourtney Kardashian. “I had surgery yesterday,” he wrote. “My arm, hand, and fingers have been numb since a show I played last month. I did a nerve test Monday after my show, and it turns out I needed a cubital tunnel release to fix the nerve.”
Why Did Travis Barker Need Surgery?
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, cubital tunnel syndrome occurs when the ulnar nerve becomes compressed or irritated around the elbow. It can cause numbness or tingling in the hand and fingers.
For Barker, getting the problem treated quickly was especially important because drumming depends so heavily on his hands.
“I wanted to get ahead of it and get it over with so that I can keep playing the way I play for a long, long time,” he wrote. “Should be good in a few weeks.”
What Did Travis Barker Say About Kourtney Kardashian?
Kardashian, 47, stayed close throughout the hospital visit. Barker joked about a photo of the couple together, writing, “Not sure why my wife looks so happy about this.”
One day earlier, he shared another image of Kardashian leaning in to kiss him beside his hospital bed. “My beautiful wife by my side,” he wrote.
His daughter Alabama Barker, 20, also joined him at the hospital. “My baby girl came with me,” Barker wrote alongside a selfie of the two together.
Has Travis Barker Had Hand Surgery Before?
This isn’t Barker’s first injury-related surgery that affected his ability to perform. In 2023, Blink-182 postponed shows after Barker dislocated a finger and tore ligaments, requiring surgery, the Los Angeles Times reported at the time.
“It was a hard decision to make, but ultimately I couldn’t continue to play the drums without it,” he wrote at the time. “It was inevitable that my finger would have dislocated again without fixing the torn ligament surgically.”
What Other Health Struggles Has Travis Barker Faced?
Barker has also been open about surviving the 2008 plane crash that killed four people on board. He suffered severe burns and later spoke about the physical and emotional recovery that followed.
At one point, Barker said he was told he might never run again and could potentially lose the ability to play drums.
The physical toll from the 2008 plane crash was devastating. Barker suffered third-degree burns over 65 percent of his body, broke all of his ribs, and fractured his back in four places.
He spent months in the hospital and underwent 27 surgeries as doctors treated his injuries.
“I couldn’t see my kids because 65 percent of my body was an open wound. I was handling that miserably,” Barker recalled, according to Mirror US.
“I was suicidal in the hospital, and I was there for another three and a half months and had 27 surgeries,” he said.
Barker has also described how severe his despair became during that period, saying he offered friends money to end his life while he was hospitalized.
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Travis Barker Undergoes Surgery, Shares Update From Hospital