Shakira to go under knife with 'world's best vocal cord surgeon'

POP-ROCKER and 'footballer's wife' Shakira will be operated on by a throat specialist said to be 'the best in the world' in his field and whose previous patients have included British mega-stars Sam Smith and Adele, Aerosmith's Steve Tyler, soul legend Lionel Richie and Nicole Kidman's husband Keith Urban.

The Lebanese-Colombian singer, 40, who has two small children with FC Barcelona midfielder Gerard Piqué, has had to cancel all her European concerts – including those planned for Spain – due to a haemorrhage affecting her vocal cords.

She says the injury has been caused by the constant stress placed upon her larynge and which requires complete rest, meaning she cannot perform live until at least the beginning of next year.

“I'm very upset at not being able to sing...for those who have achieved the impossible to get their hands on tickets...and especially for my lifelong fans who have accompanied me through the good and bad moments and who deserve better from me,” Shakira wrote on Instagram after announcing the cancellations.

Her voice problems are 'a continual nightmare', she says, and confesses she has 'never found herself in a situation like this' but will 'focus completely on resting' as the doctors have advised her.

Shakira's management has agreed to refund tickets for all those who are not prepared or able to wait until she is able to perform in their chosen venues again.

Dr Steven Marc Zeitels is head of throat surgery and rehabilitation at Massachusetts General Hospital and is considered to be the world's number one expert on vocal cords.

The 'super-surgeon' has successfully restored voices of patients affected by cancer and by benign growths.

He has already held a consultation with Shakira, who travelled to Boston, USA specially.

Dr Zeitels says injuries such as Shakira's are 'very common' in professional singers 'because of the constant and specific use' they make of their voices, and that larynge haemorrhages occur when blood vessels 'become deformed'.

Often, he explains, these do not heal properly, especially as they are frequently asymptomatic and do not cause pain, meaning singers continue to perform without realising they are worsening the problem.

Such injuries also happen to those who have to 'force or abuse' their voices, including shouting repeatedly to be heard in noisy environments, those living with the partially-deaf, call-centre workers and school teachers.