I’ve had joint aches and pains all my life, and was always told they were growing pains. Last year (when I was 21) I asked my doctor about it and she said I might have joint hypermobility because I could press my right thumb down to my wrist, though my flexibility is limited only to my arms and legs and I’m not double-jointed.
She referred me to a physiotherapy who made an attempt to sort out the pain in my knees because that was easiest and then gave up claiming I didn’t really seem to have joint hyper mobility and referred me to a podietrist.
The podietrist has put insoles in my feet and says I do seem to have hypermobility. Not convinced, I went back to my doctor who referred me to a rheumatologist.
Its now been over a year, I went to the rheumatologist who bent my fingers back (which don;t go that far back and it hurt) pulled at me a bit and declared that I was hypermobile. I am now very frustrated and confused because he wanted to refer me back to a physiotherapist who doesn’t believe I have hypermobility.
Other things that are (only possibly) related are pale skin with spider/thread veins. I have serious back pain though my back is not hypermobile. My eyesight was minus 7 but I got laser treatment (twice) to correct it.
When I got upset about it he suggested I might be depressed, referred me to a psychologist, gave me a leaflet about joint hypermobility and told me to live with it. It feels like all people can see is my flexibility which over-shadows a possibly different underlying cause for my pain. The only other ‘solution’ is painkillers but the only stabbing pain I get is momentary, for example when I push open a door or whwn Irun. I’m not going to take painkillers every day just in case.
Is this really joint hypermobility?
Related Blogs
- Jainism » Blog Archive » How to hide thread veins
- [ Diet & Fitness ] Open Question : how to gain weight in the arms and legs!? « Blog Next Door
- 3 arms or 3 legs? COD MW2 Richeeee 37-1 Terminal Commentary ” AC-130’s & Tar-21’s are my bff’s ” « HAZTECA
- Benign Joint Hypermobility Syndrome | Treating Arthritis
- In Flight | RochelleBilow.com
Tagged with: arms and legs • back pain • doctor who • eyesight • flexibility • growing pains • hyper mobility • joint hypermobility • knees • laser treatment • leaflet • pale skin • physiotherapist • physiotherapy • podietrist • psychologist • rheumatologist • spider thread • thread veins • thumb
Filed under: Spider Vein Treatment
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
I’m very sorry that you’re going through this very frustrating process. I don’ know much about hypermobility but it sounds like the general consensus from your medical staff is that you have it.
I don’t want to downplay the skill of PT’s but they are not doctors. They have Bachelor degrees. It’s true that they are good at treating muscle skeletal issues but they do NOT diagnose them. If the PT thinks you don’t have this issue it might truly be from frustration of not knowing how to treat it.
A Rheumatologist will be the best source for diagnosing hypermobility because they deal with joints on a regular basis. It’s not unusual for a specialist to do a seemingly minimal exam and be able to correctly diagnosis your medical problem. It’s their area so it’s easy for them to spot certain issues quickly. For example many General Practitioners will spend months on trying to find a treatment for a patient’s skin rash before referring them to a Dermatologist who gets it cleared up in 2 weeks.
If I was in your place I would ask your Rheumatologist to refer you to a different PT. If that’s not an option I would visit the same PT and explain to them that "My doctors have diagnosed me with hypermobility so lets do therapy focused around that issue." My understanding is that the physical therapy for hypermobility focuses on strengthening muscle groups around the affected joints to prevent hyper-extension. This in turn prevents soft/connective tissue damage (the source of inflammation and pain). Do some research on the physical treatments of your condition and share them with the PT. Ask them to help you do strengthening exercises and manage hyper-extension during the exercises (physically supporting the joint during treatment with a brace/etc).
Worse comes to worse you might be able to find some exercises to do at home to treat your condition.
I know that the conflicting information makes you worry that maybe there’s a more serious underlying condition that’s being left undiagnosed. The chances of that are pretty slim considering the level of flexibility you described. Extreme flexibility is a more likely indication of a serious underlying cause (eg. Ehlers-Danlos syndrome). However if you’re really concerned about that being an issue then maybe you can start the whole process over with a new team OR ask your current rheumatologist to do testing to rule out something like Ehlers-Danlos and Marfan’s. It’ll be time consuming and frustrating but the end results might be some peace of mind.
My final advice is do lots and lots of research. It sounds like you’ve done some. If you come to your physician armed with information and technical speak, they’re less likely to blow you off.
Hope this helps.