What Was ‘Home Town’ Star Erin Napier’s Mystery Illness? Her Health Struggles, Explained
Erin Napier and her husband, Ben Napier, have been sharing their lives with fans since their show Home Town premiered on HGTV in 2016. But what many fans don’t know is that in 2014, the same year that the couple found out their show had been picked up by the network, Erin had also solved a 10-year health problem.
Since then, the HGTV star has dealt with other physical and mental health issues. Scroll down for everything we know about her surgeries and more.
What was Erin Napier’s illness?
In 2018, Erin revealed that she had previously suffered from a mysterious illness for 10 years before doctors were able to diagnose her. She and Ben shared the story in their memoir, Make Something Good Today.
Erin was diagnosed with a perforated appendix, but it took a decade of pain to find out what was wrong. She revealed that the issues, which started as “24 hours of terrible stomach pain and a low-grade fever,” began when she was 19. By 2008, the episodes lasted two or three days, and Erin was sometimes in bed for a week because of the pain.
When CT scans didn’t show anything out of order, Erin’s OBGYN urged her to have exploratory surgery in 2014. The procedure revealed that all of Erin’s organs were fused together and covered in tissue. During a second surgery, doctors finally discovered that Erin’s appendix had been bursting and healing itself for 10 years.
“The first time it happened, when I was 19, it just partially ruptured. Not enough to kill me, just enough to make me sick,” Erin explained, adding that the appendix became covered in scar tissue when it healed itself, and that eventually began spreading to the rest of her organs.
Doctors removed Erin’s appendix and the tissue.
Can Erin Napier have kids?
Due to the procedure, doctors told Erin that it was unlikely she’d be able to have children, she revealed in the memoir.
“I was very sad,” she admitted. “And not knowing is always the biggest hurdle for me to overcome. I like to have proof. And we had no proof that I would be able to have kids.”
She ended up conceiving their first daughter, Helen, in 2017, and gave birth to her in January 2018. A second daughter, Mae, followed in 2021.
“We knew that if children weren’t in the plan biologically, we would adopt,” Erin previously told People. “If we couldn’t adopt for some reason, having each other would be enough.”
Why did Erin Napier have throat surgery?
In May 2022, Erin revealed that she was hospitalized after having a “throat procedure.” At the time, she did not specify why she had to have the surgery.
View this post on Instagram
However, in January 2023, she explained what happened in a post on X. “I was hospitalized with an abscessed tonsil during this block, so this episode and several others are about to have me with a weird voice and super puffy faced from IV steroids,” Erin wrote, referring to a Season 7 Home Town episode.
What has Erin Napier said about mental health?
Because of her past physical health issues, Erin has also dealt with mental health struggles. She opened up about what she was going through in a January 2022 Instagram post.
“For a long time thought I had put that all to bed with that final surgery. My appendix has been gone along with the physical suffering for 8 years now, but I’ve been learning through conversation with my friend who is a therapist that it left some deep ruts in my neuro pathways that have left me with an extreme fear and preoccupation with sickness, nausea in particular, ever since,” Erin explained. “My brain, without my permission, sets off on a fight or flight mission to save my life, when my life is not in any danger at all.”
She revealed that she suffers from “panic attacks and spiraling thoughts,” and said she was able to recognize what was happening when everything was “brought to the surface by the constant upheaval and dread that came with living in [the COVID-19] pandemic.”
What happened to Erin Napier’s back?
In March 2024, Erin revealed that she suffered a debilitating back injury before leaving to film Season 3 of Home Town Takeover. She revealed that the injury stemmed from “blowing my nose with bad posture over and over when I had a sinus infection.”
Erin described the pain as an “electrocution, seizing up with pain” and said it happened when she did things as simple as taking deep breaths or taking a step. She was able to get through the first week of filming with a steroid shot, but the pain eventually came back.
View this post on Instagram
By the time she was “barely able to walk,” she visited her brother, a physical therapist. “He touches my back and knows immediately: my rib was dislocated from my spine and pinched a capsule. A nerve? Whatever it was: I was immobilized,” Erin shared on Instagram.
With her brother’s expertise, the problem was quickly resolved. “He told me to cross my arms, take a breath, wait for it. In a lighting bolt moment he corrected it,” Erin continued. “WITH NOTHING BUT HIS BRAIN AND HANDS. And I am totally pain free.”
Home Town, Season 10, Sunday, January 4, 2026, 8/7c, HGTV
Watchlist Easy access to only the shows you care about — all in one simple place
Alerts Only important notifications — when a show is returning, when it becomes available to stream, and more.
Special Offers Exclusive products we release related to your favorite shows and streaming services