Madonna treated for hernia

Madonna at the Brit awards yesterday. Picture / Reuters

LONDON - US superstar Madonna has been treated for a hernia but is now "absolutely fine," her spokeswoman said yesterday.

The singer, who performed at the Grammy awards in New York last week, re-appeared in public yesterday when she accepted a Brit record industry statuette in London as Best International Female Artist of the year.

"She had a minor procedure for a hernia and is absolutely fine now," the spokeswoman said, declining to elaborate.

Over half a million hernia repair operations were performed in the United States last year. A hernia develops when the outer layers of the abdominal wall weaken, bulge or actually rip.

The 47-year-old mother of two, widely regarded as one of the fittest stars in the pop business, is seen in a lycra leotard doing the splits at full stretch in the video for her latest single "Sorry."

Last August, the singer sustained three cracked ribs, a broken collar bone and a broken hand when she fell off a horse while riding at her English country estate on her 47th birthday.

- REUTERS