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Below you will find photographs illustrating the most common hypermobile joints in the upper body - the fingers, wrist, elbow, and shoulders. The positions/movements shown are commonly referred to as "double-jointedness." The ability to perform these movements is a sign of joint hypermobility and connective tissue laxity.

I recently contacted my local ABC station, and they were gracious enough to agree to do a story about HMS and my personal struggle with the disorder. Please watch and encourage others to do the same - the single most important thing you can do to help HMS patients is to help spread awareness! Thank you all for your support! http://www.wlos.com/newsroom/health_alert/vid_232.shtml

Below is a transcription of a conversation I had with Dr. Ed Hamlin, of the Pisgah Institute, concerning my neuro-biofeedback treatment. I had a procedure called a QEEG performed, where my head was fitted with sensors, and I was asked to do different tasks such as reading, doing math, sitting with my eyes opened and eyes closed, and the computer mapped the electrical impulses in my brain. Neuro-biofeedback is a treatment that teaches your brain to make new pathways and nerve connections that promote positive behavior. The therapist places two sensors on different part of the brain, and the patient is asked to look at a computer screen which has a video game similar to Pac Man on it. When the two spots of the brain under the sensors begin to ‘talk to eachother,’ the Pac Man moves on the computer screen. The therapist can adjust what the sensors are looking for, and thus can control what type of energy (theta, beta waves, etc.) your brain produces. Your brain is hardwired to want to win ...

\ This time last year I was backpacking through Europe with friends, but now I wake up every morning and have to fight just to be able to walk; and I have to deal with the fact that I may never again get to be that free-spirited girl who was out conquering the world not so long ago. Last September, in the span of one week, I went from being a happy, healthy college student to being bedridden with crippling back pain. The sudden onset of my symptoms did not correspond with any sort of trauma – I simply woke up one morning with hip pain. The next day my hip hurt so much I couldn’t walk, and by the end of the week the pain had spread to my back, and I was completely incapacitated, unable to get out of bed. My doctors at school sent me home for two weeks of bed rest, and were confident that because I was young and otherwise healthy, I would bounce back. But over those two weeks I got worse, not better, and my family and I began to realize that we were dealing with something very serio...

Hi Everyone! Here is a list of current-ish research being conducted about HMS, which I copied from the Hypermobility Syndrome Association website. That page, www.hypermobility.org is a great resources, however, it is catered towards the UK rather than the US. Enjoy! Latest Research Prof Rodney Grahame & Dr Alan Hakim Department of Rheumatology, University College Hospitals, London 1. Do you have HMS? We have been working on a 5-part questionnaire to identify hypermobility. If you answer yes to at least 2 of the 5 questions then there is an 80-90% chance you are hypermobile. We hope it will become a simple aide memoire for doctors and allied health practitioners, encouraging them to think about hypermobility as the cause for musculoskeletal problems. The questions are: Can you now (or could you ever) place your hands flat on the floor without bending your knees? Can you now (or could you ever) bend your thumb back to touch your forearm? As a child did...