Eric Clapton says nerve damage has affected his abilities with the guitar

"I've had to come to terms with the fact that it will not improve"

Eric Clapton has revealed that he is suffering from nerve damage that has limited his ability to play the guitar.

Clapton’s condition, peripheral neuropathy, may impair sensation and movements. In 2013, the guitarist was forced to cancel several tour dates due to back pain – it was this pain that Clapton says was the beginning of his condition.

Speaking to Classic Rock Magazine, Clapton said he has “had quite a lot of pain over the last year,” starting with the lower back pain. “It turned into what they call peripheral neuropathy – which is where you feel like you have electric shocks going down your leg.”

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“[It’s] hard work to play the guitar and I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that it will not improve,” he added. In an interview with Uncut in 2014, Clapton said that “[touring] has become unbearable,” and that he was “looking at retirement too.”

“What I’ll allow myself to do, within reason, is carry on recording in the studio. I don’t want to go off the boil to the point where I’m embarrassing myself,” he said.

It was reported earlier this month (June 2) that Clapton has recorded with The Rolling Stones on their upcoming new album. “Eric was in the next studio along so he came in to say hello. They ended up jamming and recorded two songs,” a source apparently told The Sun. “Don reckons it’s the best thing he has ever done with the Stones.”

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