Andy Fraser, the bassist for Seventies hard rock pioneers Free, also suffered from the condition. Fraser, who died in 2015 aged 62, had been fighting “AIDS… bouts of cancer, peripheral neuropathy, and a long list of not so pleasant medical conditions,” according to an interview he gave in 2014.

And, before he took his own life in March this year, Keith Emerson (the keyboardist of Emerson Lake and Palmer) had been struggling with dystonia, a similar condition, caused by a motorcycle accident in 1994 which damaged the nerves in his right hand. “He had an operation a few years ago to take out a bad muscle but the pain and nerve issues in his right hand were getting worse,” said his long-term partner, Mari Kawaguchi.

In the UK, almost one in 10 people over the age of  55 suffer from the condition, which is painful but rarely fatal. Diabetes is the leading cause, but it can also be brought on by physical injury, chemotherapy or alcoholism. According to the Mayo Clinic, it can be provoked by nerve pressure from making repetitive motions, such as typing.

In a career spanning five decades, Clapton has written and performed countless hits, such as Layla, Tears in Heaven and Sunshine of Your Love. In the Sixties, the slogan “Eric Clapton is God” appeared graffitied on walls across London. But at 71, “God” now finds playing hard work: “This particular condition I’m living with isn’t necessarily going to get better,” he said.

People with peripheral neuropathy are often prescribed a period of rest, but this can be difficult for musicians. “One of the most frustrating things for a musician is to be told to stop playing if they have a problem,” says Dr Scott E Brown, who runs the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation department at Sinai Hospital, Baltimore.

Brown is himself a musician, and a biographer of the jazz pianist James P Johnson.  “It’s rare where absolutely stopping all playing is required,” he has said. “So it’s important [that] you counsel the musician in the proper way to keep playing while being able to heal and rehab from injury.”

According to the classical music magazine, Scena, peripheral neuropathy accounts for one in five diagnoses among musicians. However, a study by Dr Richard J Lederman ( ‘Peripheral nerve disorders in instrumentalists’, in the journal Annals of Neurology), suggests that instrumentalists are no more likely than other professional musicians to develop the condition.

As Clapton’s neuropathy is in his legs, rather than his hands, it is unlikely that the condition was directly caused by his guitar-playing; the condition could have been brought on by his alcohol consumption, rather than any physical injury.

Clapton’s health has been a source of concern for several years. He cancelled a string of concerts in 2013, citing “extreme back pain”. The following year, he said he was “looking at retirement,” as he could no longer handle the strain of touring: “The road has become unbearable,” he told Uncut. “I don’t want to go off the boil to the point where I’m embarrassing myself.”

“It might be that I can’t [keep playing], if it hurts too much,” he added. “I have odd ailments.”

However, Clapton has no plans to stop recording. Earlier this month, The Sun reported that he recently been in the studio with The Rolling Stones, recording two tracks for their next album.

“I can still play,” he told Classic Rock magazine. “I mean, it’s hard work sometimes, the physical side of it – just getting old, man, is hard. I don’t know how I survived – the Seventies especially. There was one point there where they were flying me to hospital…  and I was dying, apparently – I had three ulcers and one of them was bleeding. I was drinking three bottles of brandy and taking handfuls of codeine, and I was close to checking out. It’s amazing that I’m still here, really.”