Tiger Woods Getting Professional Help In Clinic For Medications Use

Tiger Woods is seeking help following his recent run-in with the law.

Tiger Woods is Using Medication for back pain and sleep deprivation

Woods’ agent revealed Monday that the 41-year-old golfer is receiving “professional help” to deal with medications he uses for both back pain and sleep issues.

The 14-time major champion is recovering from back surgery in April — his fourth such surgery in over three years — and was arrested on DUI charges on May 29. He announced that he was getting assistance Monday night on Twitter in an iPhone Notes post:

Woods was discovered asleep at the wheel of his car in the early-morning hours of Memorial Day in Jupiter, Florida. He explained later in a statement that he had not consumed alcohol, but merely had an “unexpected reaction” to four prescription medications. Woods told police one of those medications was Vicodin. The Golf Channel later revealed that another of the prescriptions Woods had ingested was for Xanax, which it learned from the Jupiter Police Department report. The police released the dash-cam footage of Woods’ arrest one day after the incident.

“I’m not at liberty to say where he is, but he is receiving in-patient treatment,” said Mark Steinberg, Woods’ agent, in a phone interview. “Tiger has been dealing with so much pain physically. And that leads to insomnia and sleep issues. This has been going on for a long time.”

Steinberg said he is proud of his client for seeking help, and that Woods’ main goal at this point is not to return to golf, but rather to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

“Was the night in question a tipping point?” Steinberg said. “He’s now gone and checked himself into a facility.

“He’s been in pain for so long. He’s had to handle the pain, which then potentially leads to the lack of sleep because you’re in so much pain.”

On May 24, Woods wrote in a website post that he had been suffering from nerve pain that reduced his quality of life.

“It is hard to express how much better I feel,” Woods wrote. “It was instant nerve relief. I haven’t felt this good in years.”

Five days afterwards, Woods was spotted by police pulled over near the side of a road approximately 9 miles from his home in Florida. After failing several field-sobriety tests, he blew 0.00 on a breathalyzer and was taken into custody.

Following two back surgeries in the early fall of 2015, Woods returned to competitive golf at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas in December. However, he exited that tournament after just three rounds of play.

Woods missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open in January, then played just one round at the European Tour event in Dubai one week later. He pulled out of that tournament with back spasms.

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – DECEMBER 02: Tiger Woods of the United States hits his shot on the second tee during round two of the Hero World Challenge at Albany, The Bahamas on December 2, 2016 in Nassau, Bahamas. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)