Thierry Henry has suffered a discopathy in his spine that means he will be sidelined for the nest two weeks.

After a series of tests on Thierry Henry made by Doctor Enric Cáceres, a member of the FC Barcelona medical commission, and a specialist in spinal injuries, it has been revealed that the Frenchman has a discopathy in vertebrae L5-S1.

Henry has been having this kind of trouble for several years, and often suffers from lumbar and pelvis pains. When he signed for FC Barcelona, the pelvis troubles he has were taken into serious consideration, but with the right treatment he was able to train normally. But in recent weeks the pain has returned.

Specific treatment programme

So it was decided that he should stop playing and be analysed carefully by the club medical staff, including further magnetic resonance and electromyography, to see how he is progressing. His individual training plan will be as follows:

1.- Minimally invasive infiltration techniques.
2.- Specific osteopathic and muscular work

The player will be expected to return to duty after a fortnight.

The club medical services wished to point out that such discopathy can be suffered by anybody, whether or not they do sport. It is a dehydration of the intervertebral disc linked to a genetic problem that is fairly common among sportspeople and especially tall people. It can cause pain at irregular periods, sometimes worse than other times, and there is no definitive treatment known to deal with one hundred per cent of cases or the associated symptomology.