"Flip or Flop" star Tarek El Moussa underwent "stem-cell surgery" to help with his chronic back pain.
The reality TV star posted a very graphic image to Instagram on May 10 that showed him getting a shot in his lower back. He detailed the procedure in his caption.
"I'm desperate to fix my back so…..I did STEM CELL surgery today!! It's CRAZY!!!," he wrote. "They lipo my fat out with a 12 inch needle (I asked to take all my fat, they said no) than they spin it and separate the stem cells into a liquid. They than take the liquid and inject it through an IV."
"The stem cells find the injured areas of your body and begin the process of healing it at a super fast rate. I believe they put over 1,000,000 stem cells back in my body after the lipo," he said. "It's wild seeing the technology and future of medicine…I AM PRAYING THIS WORKS!!!"
Last week, Tarek told his 276,000 Instagram followers that he was suffering from such debilitating back pain that he can "barely walk." He's somewhat familiar with the pain, as he's injured his back before.
"It's very scary. Last time [he injured his back] I lost 50 pounds and was taking large amounts of pain meds to try and help the pain," he said. "Truthfully those meds really affected my mental and physical state and changed who I was. Last time I hurt my back it took me a year and a half to recover."
"As of today I can barely walk…I honestly can't even believe this is happening, I feel like it's a bad dream that I will wake up from," he continued. "I will be truthful and say I'm very down because of this. It is going to take a lot of positivity and strength to go through this a second time. I will stay positive and I will fight to get healthy again."