Reflection
May 8, 2016
Over the weekend, I have been doing more research and a lot of reading. I can’t even explain how surprised I was when I found out that I match the descriptions so well and I have something that I didn’t even know I have for twenty one years. After learning in depth about joint hypermobility and joint hypermobility syndrome, I realized that I probably got this from my mom. Joint hypermobility is often hereditary and so I probably got this from my mom. I have known that my mom also has hyperextended elbow its just that her elbow isn’t as extreme as mine and my dad is normal. It is really interesting to know that not everyone with joint hypermobility have other problems and my mom clearly does not have other problems that I happened to have. I was going down the list of symptoms of joint hypermobility syndrome and I was amazed to found out that I fit in quite well. I have flexible back and it is pretty much always in pain even if I’m not dancing. I have clicking joints and although I have never dislocate a joint before, there are a few occasions that I felt like my shoulder and knee joints are popping in and out. I also have a tendency to get injured, I have minor sprains a lot which will usually heal pretty fast if I let it rest well. But I felt like it always takes my body longer to heal from bruises or small wounds. What surprise me is the digestive problems, I had constipation since when I was a baby and although I have never tested for irritable bowel syndrome, I do have pretty weak stomach and I can’t digest carbs very well. It was also mentioned that flat feet or fallen arches can be the result of loose connective tissue, such as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or joint hypermobility syndrome. The last one is the stretchy skin. Joint hypermobility syndrome is widely thought to be an underlying condition called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
Key words
Hypermobility
Hypermobility is the ability to move joints beyond the normal range of movement. The term ‘double-jointed’ is often used as a non-medical term for hypermobility There are different types of hypermobility and the severity of the condition can very as each individual can present with different symptoms. In general, hypermobile people can injure their joints, ligaments, tendons and other ‘soft tissues’ around joints. This is because the joints twist or over extend easily, in more severe cases, people with hypermobility may experience partial or complete dislocation. Often, these injures can be repetitive and people can suffer acute or chronic pain. The majority of hypermobile people takes longer to recover from an injury and some people will only partially recover before injuring that same area again.
Hypermobililty syndrome (EMSs)
For most people with hypermobility, they do not have a medical condition. Most of health professionals refer to Beighton Score as primary indicator. Beighton Score is a nine point scoring system often used as an indicator for generalized hypermobility. Be aware that a high Beighton Score does not mean that the individual has a hypermobility syndrome. Other symptoms and signs need to also be present.
The Beighton Score is calculated as follows:
- One point if while standing forward bending you can place palms on the ground with legs straight
- One point for each elbow that bends backwards
- One point for each knee that bends backwards
- One point for each thumb that touches the forearm when bent backwards
- One point for each little finger that bends backwards beyond 90 degrees.
Reference: Hypermobility Syndrome Association
Joint hypermobility syndrome (JHS)
Joint hypermobility is common in the general population, most common in childhood and adolescence and tends to lessen with age. Many people with joint hypermobility don’t have any problems. Dancers especially may benefit from the increase flexibility and extension.
The video is an example of joint hypermobility in ballet dancers. In the video, the dancer has joint hyperextension in her knee and her toes known as metatarsophalangeal joint.
Some people with joint hypermobility can have a number of unpleasant symptoms such as:
- pain and stiffness in the joints and muscles
- clicking joints
- joints that dislocate (come out of the correct position) easily
- fatigue (extreme tiredness)
- recurrent injuries – such as sprains
- digestive problems – such as constipation and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- dizziness and fainting
- thin or stretchy skin
Reference: NHS
If hypermobility occurs alongside with these symptoms, it is known as joint hypermobility syndrome (JHS). Joint hypermobility is often hereditary, genetically determined by collagen, a type of protein. Collagen is found throughout the body in skin, ligaments (the connective tissue the links between two bones) and tendon (the connective tissue that links between muscle and bone). People with joint hypermobility have weaker collagen, as a result, tissues in the body are fragile which make ligaments and joints loose and stretchy thus joints can extend further than usual.
Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS)
(Still researching on this one)
How do hypermobility syndromes overlap?
The diagram is a reference to the overlap between different types of hypermobility.
Guest lecture – Injury prevention
Apr 27, 2016
Today we had Dr. Carol Teitz from UW School of Medicine come to speak to us about injury prevention for dancers. I used this opportunity to asked two of my questions:
What advice would you give to dancers with hypermobility? and
Have you seen chronic or repetitive injuries from hyper-mobile dancers?
I have to say that not only did she mentioned my questions but also, she point out something that I have never thought about to link the connection of the two. Apparently I have what Dr. Carol said, stretchy skin. People with hypermobility have different structure of collagen fibers thus when you have stitches, its not the doctors’s fault that the scar expanded so don’t blame on the doctor. This happens to me and I have no idea why my scar will expand outwards so much. I was able to catch up with Dr. Carol after the lecture and she explained that the reason is because the direction of my collagen ligaments and tendons runs differently than other people. In order to prevent the expanding of the scar, I should let the doctor know to place the stitches longer in my skin, don’t make the wound so tight and try to avoid the direction of the collagen ligament. She also told me that I should do weight training because it is a lot harder for people with hypermobility to build muscles because they have my tendons and ligaments surrounded the bones and that is another reason why hypermobile people are more likely to be injured.
Introduction
Apr 20, 2016
At the beginning of my junior years in college, I decide to pursue dance honors. After much consideration, I was inspired by my mentor, Professor Jennifer Salk to conduct a research on hypermobile dancers. Before I jump ahead into the core concept, I want to explain briefly about what is hypermobility and my story. There are different types of hypermobility and I will be explaining in depth later but in short, you can either born with it, inherited from genetic, your parents or you can train your body (through dance, gymnastics, acrobatics, contortion) to become overly flexible. Hypermobility is when you have excess range of motion, which means that your body can flex or extend beyond 180 degrees. To start with, I was born with a lot of flexibility so I enjoy stretching and receiving complements about my flexibility in dance class. As a kid, I wasn’t really aware of my own body, I just thought that it is kind of cool that my body can bend in weird places. I didn’t understand that what feels natural to me is unnatural for other people and why I get bruises and minor sprains so easily. I didn’t understand why my back is sore all the time and why my joints can crack my joints so easily. Even today as a young adult, I am still learning about my body, its strength and weakness. Being a hyper-mobile dancer myself, this research will allow me to learn and discover about my body, myself as well as how to gain strength and prevent injuries.
Hypermobile dancers 