Hypermobility is a term that has recently gained a decent presence in my own vocabulary. I’ve always been a relatively flexible person, and seeing as I did gymnastics when I was a lot younger, I figured my flexibility sort of made sense, given that the sport isn’t exactly suited for someone more rigid than starch-washed jeans.
I ended up walking away from the sport for two reasons – the first being that I was told by an instructor I was getting too tall to continue with the sport at a competitive level, and the second being that I had excruciating pain in my lower back anytime I tried more advanced skills on the floor. I told my parents about the back pain, and they, like any other parent, were a little taken aback by their seven-year-old claiming she had bad back pain. Understandably, it sort of got forgotten because I stopped speaking about it, seeing as no one really believed me, as bad as that sounds.
For the record, I do NOT blame my parents for not addressing my back pain, and by no means did they neglect me in this complaint. Rather, I think they were under the impression that I had perhaps pulled some muscles, and did not deem it to be terribly serious.
Now that I’m in my 30s, I’ve been diagnosed as hypermobile. If you’re wondering what that means, in essence, it means that I am a very flexible person who runs the risk of having joints pop out of place, because hypermobility often coincides with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Hypermobility can also occur with the vascular version of Ehlers-Danlos.
As it turns out, extreme lower back pain that begins in early childhood is often linked to hypermobility as well as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. If you suspect you might be hypermobile, be sure to read tomorrow’s post, which will detail a test you can perform at home to determine whether or not you’re hypermobile.
Photo by Naveen Ketterer on Unsplash
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