Michael J Fox suffered a nightmare year in which he sustained painful injuries including a broken arm and elbow.

The 'Back To The Future' star - who is living with Parkinson's disease - has revealed the past 12 months have been difficult after breaking his hand and coming down with an infection which caused balance issues and led to a number of falls which left him with more breaks and fractures.

He told PEOPLE magazine: "I broke my cheek, then my hand, then my shoulder, had a replacement shoulder put in and broke my [right] arm, then I broke my elbow. I'm 61 years old, and I'm feeling it a little bit more."

The actor even admitted his sunny disposition took a hammering and he "got cranky".

Michael added: "I was never really a cranky guy, but I got very cranky and short with people. I try to nip it in the bud. I always think of these aides who work with me. And I often say to them, 'Whatever I say, just imagine I said 'please' at the beginning and 'thank you' at the end ... "

The actor went on to confirm he's finally feeling better as most of his injuries have healed, but he's doing everything he can to avoid any more falls.

He added: "I'm coming through where the last of my injuries are healing up; my arm is feeling good. Life is interesting. It deals you these things ... The whole mission is: Don't fall down. So whatever works to not fall down, whether it's a walker or a wheelchair, a cane, a guy with a belt around my waist holding onto it- I use all those tools."