The Difference between Joint Hypermobility & Joint Instability
Blog Post #7
If you’re here, you may be wondering what does joint hypermobility mean to begin with? I know in the beginning of my research journey (prior to my diagnosis), I thought to myself, “Maybe I am just flexible and not necessarily hypermobile?” I never thought of myself as “double-jointed”, as this was my “normal”. However, after I researched further, I knew for sure I finally found the answer to all my weird symptoms since a young age. Unfortunately, when I first brought up the term Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome to a Rheumatologist, Neurologist and Pain Management doctor, I was immediately dismissed because I had mentioned growing up dancing and then later delving deeper into my very own yoga practice. These medical practitioners all blamed my thoughts of a diagnosis of EDS/hypermobility on my choice of exercise, “you became flexible” and demanded it was too “rare” for me to have this diagnosis. “Joint hypermobility is that a person’s joints have a greater range of motion than is expected or usual”. Though joint hypermobility seems to be a common symptom across all types of EDS, you do not need to have joint hypermobility to be diagnosed with EDS. Let me make another distinction clear, you can be an individual with joint hypermobility and experience no pain or issues caused by this hypermobility. However, people with joint hypermobility may also present with joint instability.
Joint instability is when there is extra motion within the joint, causing the joints not to be held in place securely or be in suboptimal alignment. This can cause issues such as joint subluxations, dislocations, sprains, and other issues. Joint instability may also cause chronic pain and often makes activities of daily living very difficult or sometimes impossible. I remember dancing and playing soccer growing up and having many issues with my hips, knees and ankles specifically. I always felt like my knee caps would pop in and out of place, a term I now understand as a subluxation. I would always have issues with twisting my ankles often and they definitely were very painful when I took Pointe and for days afterwards. After pediatricians tell your parents this is “normal” and just growing pains, you almost start to second guess yourself and what you are feeling. Being young and in pain is definitely a circumstance I have learned a lot from and will always continue to advocate for myself and others now that I fully understand that none of this was normal for a young female athlete in my elementary and middle school years. Fast forward to my college years when I became more committed to my yoga practice and strength training routine, I started developing more issues with my shoulders, elbows and wrists. My wrists were always bothersome when it came to hand-writing in school and typing, but now they were subluxing more and more due to my joint instability. I also started noticing my issues with muscle weakness became more prevalent, despite my attempts at strengthening.
If you have been diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) or Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (HSD or you are here to learn more because you believe you or a loved one may be suffering, I am sure some of this may be relatable for you. The Beighton Scoring System is one of a number of tools that can be used to assess generalized joint hypermobility. More on this in my next blog post!