Amy Schumer has never been one to keep her medical charts private. If there’s a camera nearby, she’s probably going to tell you exactly what’s happening with her internal organs. In August 2025, she did it again, posting a photo of herself looking slightly disheveled, sporting a walker, and dropping the news that she’d just gone under the knife for her spine.
It wasn't just a random "I'm getting older" thing. The amy schumer back surgery was actually the culmination of a decades-long struggle that started with a surfboard and ended with a surgeon removing pieces of her bone.
The Surfing Accident You Probably Forgot About
Most people think of back pain as something that just creeps up after forty. For Amy, the clock started ticking way back in high school. She has frequently referenced a "horrific" surfing accident from her younger years that basically set her L5 vertebra on a collision course with chronic pain.
Back in the late '90s, she was out in the water alone when she was essentially impaled by her surfboard's fin. It was a grisly scene—she’s talked about "fat and blood" gushing out and needing 41 stitches. While the leg wound healed into a massive scar, the impact did something much more permanent to her lower back. The L5 is the final vertebra in the lumbar spine, and when that goes, everything else starts to feel like a house of cards.
Fast forward through a career of stand-up, a difficult pregnancy, and multiple other surgeries, and that old injury finally hit a breaking point.
What Exactly is a Laminectomy?
When Amy posted that she had a laminectomy, a lot of fans were scratching their heads. Basically, it’s a decompression surgery. Imagine your spinal cord and nerves are a bunch of wires inside a pipe. If the pipe gets cramped—from bone spurs, a herniated disc, or old trauma—the nerves get squeezed.
A surgeon goes in and removes the "lamina," which is the back part of the vertebra that covers your spinal canal. By taking that piece of bone out, you create more "room to breathe" for those nerves.
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Why the Walker?
Seeing a 44-year-old woman with a walker is a bit jarring. However, after spinal surgery, it’s pretty standard. You aren't exactly doing jumping jacks the day after someone opens up your back. Amy joked about it, of course, captioning her photo: "Today I got a laminectomy! It’s a short recovery and when I’m feeling better I will buy a bra!" The goal of this specific surgery is usually to stop the radiating leg pain and numbness that happens when the L5 nerve root is compressed. If she was at the point where she couldn't stand on stage or play with her son, the surgery became less of an option and more of a necessity.
The Health Domino Effect
You can't really look at the amy schumer back surgery in a vacuum. Her medical history is a tangled web. In 2021, she had a hysterectomy and an appendectomy to deal with endometriosis. Doctors found 30 spots of the disease, and it had even "choked" her appendix.
Then came 2024, where her face started looking significantly puffier during press tours for Life & Beth. The internet, being the internet, was brutal. But as it turns out, the "moon face" was a symptom of Cushing syndrome, a condition caused by a massive spike in cortisol levels.
Honestly, the fact that she was dealing with a spinal injury while also navigating a hormonal disorder is kind of a miracle of endurance. By late 2025, Amy revealed she’d lost about 50 pounds—not for aesthetics, she insists, but to survive. She was using Mounjaro to help regulate her system after a disastrous run with Ozempic that left her bedridden with nausea.
Why This Surgery Matters for Her Future
There’s a real risk with these kinds of procedures. Some medical experts, like Dr. Gabe Mirkin, have pointed out that laminectomies aren't always a "one and done" fix. There's always the chance of scar tissue causing more compression than the original injury did.
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But for Amy, the "before" was clearly worse than the "after." By December 2025, she was telling fans she felt "pain-free" for the first time in forever. She even mentioned being able to play tag with her son, Gene.
What We Can Learn From Her Journey
If you're dealing with chronic back issues or thinking about a similar procedure, there are a few takeaways from how Amy handled hers:
- Don't ignore the "old" injuries. That tweak you had in your 20s usually comes back for a visit in your 40s.
- The "walker phase" is temporary. It looks scary on Instagram, but it's a tool for safety, not a sign of permanent disability.
- Advocate for the "Why." Amy didn't just accept that she was "puffy" or "tired." She pushed for the MRIs and blood draws that found the Cushing syndrome and the L5 damage.
The Path Forward
Recovery from a laminectomy generally involves a few weeks of restricted movement—no heavy lifting, no twisting, and definitely no surfing. By early 2026, Amy seems to have pivoted her focus toward muscle preservation and strength training. When you've had a spinal procedure and you're navigating perimenopause, keeping your "core" strong is basically your new full-time job.
She’s been transparent about using HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) to manage her energy and bone health, which is crucial after the kind of metabolic rollercoaster she’s been on.
If you are looking into a laminectomy yourself, your next steps should be getting a high-quality MRI of the lumbar spine and seeking a second opinion from a neurosurgeon or orthopedic spine specialist to see if you're actually a candidate for decompression or if physical therapy should come first.