Monday morning, pass the coffee and let's GO!
*Shakes #HMSAware pom-poms vigourously*
It's finally time to get our cheer leading routine on and spell out some #BendyBasics. We'll be looking at some of the basic terms we use and why using them correctly is important. If you're going to be the boss of your health then you're going to need help, so we'll be encouraging you to#GetConnected to each other, to any available support and services in your area, to us and to any other organisations that may be able to help.
By the end of the week we'll have covered acronyms and abbreviations, the various medical conditions involving hypermobility, some personal experiences and of course some #MythBusting. Your hypermobility is not caused by aliens! In most people, hypermobility isn't alien at all, it is entirely normal (if a little quirky) and they have no chronic issues with their health because of it, which is part of why there's continuing resistance in some quarters (social and medical) to acknowledge that hypermobility can be just one small part of real, debilitating and systemic medical conditions. But more on that later.
Let's start at the very beginning, it's a very good place to start:
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Hypermobile is an adjective, like curly, tall or pale. It is used to describe a joint which has greater than average 'range of movement' (ROM), or to describe an individual whose joints are generally lax. Around 20-30% of the population, most small children and adolescents are hypermobile in some or most of their joints. In general women are more hypermobile than men. Many find the attribute to be an asset in sports, dance, music and other areas where physical flexibility is an advantage.
Incorrect usage/understanding of the term 'hypermobility' (as distinct from Joint Hypermobility syndrome) is perhaps the area in which improper terminology has the most impact on people with heritable disorders of the connective tissue (HDCTs). Hypermobility is normal for most and this can make it very difficult to understand that these syndromes involve so much more than just the obvious musculoskeletal symptoms.
An observation that someone's joints are hypermobile is not diagnosis of an HDCT, though if other criteria are present it may be relevant to further investigations.
