Being hypermobile generally means that you are very supple in the tendons that surround your joints.

What is Hypermobility?

A surprising number of people have joint hypermobility, and suffer no ill effects . Which is probably why not many people know or have heard of the syndrome, this extends to the members of the medical profession too.

Hypermobility is caused when the muscles, tendons and ligaments around the joints are far more supple than in most people. You may have been able to move your joints into odd positions,as a child and thought that you were 'double jointed'. Hypermobility can effect one or all of your joints.

Mild hypermobility in the most part probably will not effect your everyday life, but in severe cases it can cause a lot of joint pain and may even cause you to dislocate your joints. Hypermobility has also been connected to Fibromyalgia, osteogenesis imperfecta, Marfan Syndrome and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. In fact some Doctors think that Hypermobility Syndrome may be a mild form of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.

Symptoms and Causes

Just because your joints are hypermobile does not automatically mean you will have any symptoms or experience any pain. People who do suffer problems or pain will be diagnosed as having Hypermobility Syndrome. People who have Hypermobility Syndrome may suffer some of the following:

• joint pains
• fatigue
• tendency to bruise easily
• tense, stiff joints
• over stretching of the joints causing them to dislocate

Some people have a narrow joint socket, which in turn allows the joint to have a larger area of movement. Which causes the hypermobility.

In others it will be because their ligaments, tendons and mucles surrounding the joint are far more flexible than they should be and therefore not supporting the joint properly. This is caused by the way the collagen in the body has been made up. This type of hypermobility normally effects all of your joints and is generally hereditary.

People may also not be aware of their joint movement, meaning they don't know when they are over stretching the joint, causing themselves injury.

Diagnosis

Doctors and physiotherapists use what is called the Beighton Score to diagnose hypermobility. This consists of nine tests as follows:

• Can you put your hands flat on the floor with your knees straight?
• Can you bend your left elbow backwards?
• Can you bend your right elbow backwards?
• Can you bend your left knee backwards?
• Can you bend your right knee backwards?
• Can you bend your left thumb back on to the front of your forearm?
• Can you bend your right thumb back on to the front of your forearm?
• Can you bend your little finger on your left hand up at 90° to the back of your hand?
• Can you bend your little finger on your right hand up at 90° to the back of your hand.

If you score five or more of these than the chances are that you are hypermobile.

Treatment

Physiotherapy will help to achieve better muscle control, paracetamol and in some cases codydramol, and ibuprofen can be used to ease the pain in the joints affected.

Coping with Hypermobility Syndrome

Avoiding any sort of high impact exercise as this may aggravate the joints further, cycling or swimming is the best sort of exercise and will help to strengthen the muscles. Some people have found tens machines highly effective for pain relief.