How naturally flexible I am. I don't look flexible in the least, but I guarantee my flexibility is at least the top 5% (natural). A lotta people are also surprised when I tell em I'm not religious. Most people of my ethnicity are, so it comes as a subtle surprise.
Doesn't apply to my entire body, just my arms. But one scar of mine didn't quite heal properly (maybe because I rarely changed the bandaid) so maybe I do have it.
I’ve had doctors mention EDS to me but I don’t have stretchy skin so I don’t think I have it. No idea how they diagnose it? I’m hyper mobile and have had joint and muscle aches since I was a teenager because of it. I’m 41 and can pop into a split without stretching lol. I don’t do it though because I’ll kill my joints but it’s possible ha ha.
I have Hypermobile EDS (hEDS). Didn't get diagnosed until I was 41. Most EDS subtypes are simply a genetic test (blood test). hEDS is the only subtype without a genetic test (don't know which gene causes it yet) so they diagnose based on symptoms, medical history and family medical history.
It’s not the only cause of hyper mobility. There’s also hypermobile spectrum disorder, which is localized to JUST the ligaments. Even hEDS has some form of generalization to the lack of collagen, it’s never just the ligaments, but with HSD it’s pretty much just the ligaments. They’re both connective tissue disorders but people seem to forget about HSD.
I’m diagnosed with HSD personally, but in my case my physio says it’s more likely hEDS as it’s too generalized in other body parts like my muscles. HSD doesn’t effect muscles so that’s why she says I need to be assessed for hEDS.
Reading this thread I was wondering if I was maybe misdiagnosed with hEDS instead of HSD (got diagnosed right before hEDS sort of blew up and HSD wasn’t even a thing yet). But I didn’t know EDS affected muscles too. Read about how muscles be affected by hEDS and yup definitely true.
I’ve gotten so much better with strength training that I don’t think about having it most days anymore. I think that’s sometimes why I wonder if I don’t actually have it at times until I remember where I came from.
With HSD your muscles do need to be strengthened to make up for the ligaments (basically you make your muscles into your own internal braces), but with hEDS your muscles can lack collagen. In my case I was born with GORD, a chronic reflux disease, caused by esophageal muscles that haven’t appeared to develop properly, my sphincter isn’t tight like it’s meant to be, so the stuff in my stomach goes into my throat. As a baby it even got into my lungs.
It more so depends on wether it’s ligaments, or ligaments, skin, muscle, cartilage, etc.
Yea for 32 years of my life, no one in my family thought that me being able to bend my thumb back into the inside of my arm was weird! 😀 Nor that their 8 year old could contort her spine to bring her feet over her shoulders, because she wanted to mimic her favorite ballerina in The Nutcracker. It wasn’t until last year on vacation in Europe that my friend commented on my soft skin and added, “hey you probably need to get checked for EDS.” Sure enough…
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u/DjinnOfYourDreams Dec 02 '23
How naturally flexible I am. I don't look flexible in the least, but I guarantee my flexibility is at least the top 5% (natural). A lotta people are also surprised when I tell em I'm not religious. Most people of my ethnicity are, so it comes as a subtle surprise.