to think hyper mobility doesn’t just start at 12 years old?

[OhSOconfused123]

My daughter is having a real struggle with feeling her ankles constantly need clicking back into place.
It doesn’t matter if she’s walking or not, even sitting down the teacher has noticed her bending her feet over to the side trying to “ click them into place “
This has been going on only for 2 weeks and the doctor wasn’t concerned but referred her to physio.
Surely this doesn’t just start at this age?
She doesnt do any taxing sports; just tennis once a week but is fit and active etc.
Very worried about her constantly bending her feet over to the side in case she actually breaks something soon

@Anomalocaris

It absolutely can suddenly come on or worsen at about that age, strong links between connective tissue problems and female hormones so it's often worse at puberty and then perimeno.

This - I have mild hypermobility (not ED) and it came on around 13. It’s connected to hormonal change in early teenage girls as the female hormones make ligaments more relaxed - ready for pregnancy!

And another reason for increased incidence of leg/knee/ankle laxity in teenage girls is apparently the wider angle of the leg bones up to the pelvis which contributes to greater pressure on the leg, knee and ankle joints. All part of being female!

She’s in so much pain when she can’t “ click it in “
Very pleased we have the appointment coming up as it’s worrying to watch the repeated attempts to click it in, it looks like she will dislocate it by doing it

@3peassuit

My daughter was 15 when diagnosed with EDS and hyper mobility. She dislocated her knee and was diagnosed first by the physiotherapist and then the team at UCH.

This was my DP except he was 27 when he was diagnosed

I'm 31 and waiting for a referral to look into hEDS. I've had an odd collection of symptoms since I was a teenager that I've been convinced are my thyroid but I push for tests every couple of years and they always come back fine.

I've been reading through lists of hEDS symptoms open-mouthed because it explains everything, plus there is a massive comorbidity with ASD and ADHD - I have both.

I've had it all my life but it became really noticeable at around age 11 when my periods started so it could be hormonal as other posters have said.

It's so uncomfortable needing to click a joint and not being able to do it, sometimes I'm bent up in pain as it gets that bad. Lots of warm baths and heat on the joint helps me! She can also try massaging her ankles. Hope she gets the help she needs

I have hypermobile ankles. Started getting little but regular twists etc at about 9/10 with the onset of puberty- early bloomer.

Dx'd formally in my mid 20s after some nasty falls. Right ankle so bad that even after lots of work, I've been warned to be very careful especially if I get pregnant.

No indications at all til I turned 9 or so.

My hyper mobility became far worse after puberty, no sprains or dislocation before but constantly from 11 onwards and required surgery for stabilisation in my twenty’s

Anyone on here struggling with over pronation/foot and ankle pain- try ASICS trainers. The website asks about over pronation and then recommends a suitable shoe. Their trail runners have been a godsend for me- allowing me to continue hiking without too much pain.

My daughter has HEDS and I didn’t really notice anything until she was 8. In hindsight I realise that she always fell more than other children, had difficulty writing and was a great gymnast as a little one.
All hit hard once she shot up/got heavier/into sports/started puberty. Definitely think these are triggers for symptoms to become more obvious.

Oestrogen does cause greater flexibility so perhaps it is a condition exacerbated by puberty?

I have hEDS and I'm not particularly flexible. I just overextend all my major joints. And progesterone absolutely makes everything worse.

Make sure she's always wearing supportive shoes. Ballet flats are terrible for this. You'll need to find shoes that have good support around the ankles and under the arch of the foot.

Hopefully you'll get answers from the physio.

I didn't know until my DS was about 12. He was jokingly showing me one day how far the skin on his neck stretched when he pulled it. I could see it wasn't normal and our GP agreed and sent us to a Rheumatologist.

She diagnosed HM (ED type) immediately (she even checked him for Marfans) and it instantly clicked with me that many of the problems I had for years were also due to HM. I was 40 and could pull still my party trick of doing the splits.

go is going to do bloods too
She’s just not flexible or at all clumsy so no signs at all
But it can’t be anything else I can think of either

Look at her knees when she's standing straight. Do they curve or are they in a straight line? You can google images for hyperextended knees to get a good idea. That might be one clue.

It's good that the GP is going to do bloods.

I'm not that flexible either OP- apart from my over extending ankle joints. And as others have said, hormones make them much worse.

Both my older sister and I were that sort of age when we started to realise our bodies moved in a different way to other peoples.

My sister has more issues, pain-related, than I do - but a lot of that is due to the fact she is overweight.

My only issues is that very occasionally if feels like my right hip gets out of alignment. This mostly happens after a hot bath, and I suspect it's something to do with the relaxation of the muscles. I also NEED to click the joint at the base of both my big toes 4 or 5 times a week, otherwise they feel very weird.

Obviously brings should be investigated properly to ensure your daughter is ok. But could it have become a habit? I crack my neck multiple times a times day. It started a few months ago with it just occasionally feeling “out”, now it happens multiple times a day. It doesn’t hurt me and it’s not impacting on my life, I feel it’s just become a bit of a habit.