Hypermobility (also called double-jointedness, hypermobility syndrome or hyperlaxity) is a condition in which people have more elastic ligaments, allowing their joints to stretch and contort further. For example, some double-jointed people can bend their thumb backwards to their wrist or in some other cases they can bend their knee joint backwards.

Hypermobility is generally regarded as a likely symptom of possible deeper problems.

Causes

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Factors causing hypermobility include:

• the shape of the ends of the bones at the joints
• weak or stretched ligaments
• muscle tone and how well the muscles hold the joints in place
• joint proprioception (how well a person can tell where and how stretched a joint is)

Hypermobility is generally regarded as a possible symptom in need of deeper investigation:

• excessive elasticity of the ligaments is often symptomatic of a deeper illness (e.g. problems with collagen)
• risk of inadvertent injury to the joints — hypermobility can lead to premature osteoarthritis
• muscles must work harder to compensate for the excessive suppleness of the joint, and can lead to overuse of the muscles around the joint.

However, some hypermobile persons exhibit no medical problems.

Hypermobility syndrome

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Hypermobility Syndrome (known by a variety of other names, including Benign Joint Hypermobility Syndrome) is generally considered to comprise hypermobility together with other symptoms, such as myalgia and arthralgia, and extra-articular features such as skin hyperextensibility and varicose veins. The current diagnostic criteria for Hypermobility Syndrome are the Beighton criteria, also called the Beighton score^*.

Treatments

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Patients often must consciously avoid overstretching their joints.

Treatments include planned exercise specifically to strengthen the muscles around the joints and allow them to compensate for the joints' excessive suppleness.

See also

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• Ehlers-Danlos syndrome

References

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• Joint hypermobility (Arthritis Research Council)

External links

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• Hypermobility Syndrome Association

Syndromes