Hypermobility

Many people are flexible and the extreme of this can be classified as ‘Hypermobile’. Research shows up to 57% of the population may be hypermobile although this frequency changes with different nationalities and with age. Generally, as we get older, we become stiffer, but this is not the case for everyone. Hypermobility can affect multiple joints or only one joint or part of the body. Some people may be hypermobile but also have other systemic issues such as increased skin extensibility and tissue fragility affecting other organs such as blood vessels, gastrointestinal tract, cardiac or dental issues and many more. These people may have one of many connective tissue disorders such as Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS), Marfan Syndrome, Osteogenesis Imperfecta and many more. If you are hypermobile and have other symptoms, it may be worth discussing with your GP if these may be related.

People who are hypermobile can have a higher risk for injury or be more likely to have joint pain. Some other symptoms may include clicking joints, co-ordination problems, pain – can be joint related or all over, fatigue, depression, dizziness and repeated subluxations or dislocations. Exercise can be the best medicine, but the type of exercise is very individual and may need to focus on stabilising your joints and controlled movement. People with Hypermobility will often respond better to a program with low load and high reps and may need advice on pacing and gradually increasing their load to avoid a ‘boom bust’ pattern.

At Flex we utilise clinical Pilates and provide clients with individualised home and gym exercise programs to prevent injury and to help maintain function. We will discuss with you what your goals (short and long term) are and work together to achieve them.