Dd diagnosed with hypermobility - could this be my problem?

[roundabout1]

Dd2 (2) has just been diagnosed with hypermobility after being referred to a paed for recurrent crap type pain in her legs & feet. She's had blood tests & all clear they reckon her pain is more related to growing pains than hypermobility. I know its mostly hereditary & I didn't think I could have it as have knee/hip problems but when I googled it I found one of the exercises to test hypermobility was over flexing your knee. Well I can do this & since my teenage years have had knee problems, mostly undiagnosed, had athroscopies & bits of cartledge removed but no real improvement. The problems come & go & have bad flare ups. Could this be related to hypermobility even though my other joints are unaffected. Am as as usual overthinking everything?!!

Hypermobility can effect some joints worse than others. A diagnosis is quite subjective to a degree, so would depend on the assessor and how many joints were affected. It is quite possible that you do have some hypermobililty though.

Ds1 has hypermobility in most of his joints - particularly hips, knees, shoulders, wrists and fingers. My knees are hypermobile and I had a lot of pain as a child which was never explained at the time, and even now I have to be quite careful not to injure myself by forcing it backwards. I've caught it sometimes where it has bent the wrong way and it's ended up really sore for a few weeks. Some of my toes are also totally double jointed! DD also has hypermobile ankles, so it def can be hereditary.

My DD has only recently been diagnosed as being hypermobile but so far the only concern the docs have is the risk of early onset synfuels as a result of wear and tear. My side of the family have all got some degree of hypermobility which doesn't really affect us too badly. All my sisters and my brother have Osgud-Schlatters(sp?) and I was diagnosed with early onset athritis in my knees when I was 25. The way they explained it to DD was that the elastic bands that held her joints were looser than her friends so she's more bench. geek extraordinaire DD thinks she like Mr. Fantastic

Athritis..... No idea what synfuels is

Bendy farking IPod

Thank you. My knees used to be more flexible than what they are now. I thought they were a bit bendy as the muscles around them weren't strong enough as I was given physio exercises to strengthen them. I can easily go over on them (not a very good explanation but can't think of it any other way!) I may be overthinking it, I have been seeking an explanation of my knee problems for years & now they say its wear & tear yet I was having the same problems in my teens and then it was blamed on my age!
kindles - I wondered what synfuels was!

I have hypermobility in various joints and was advised many years ago that my muscles would have to be really strong in order to support my bendy ligaments....I do lots of exercise and it really helps. I have had serious back problems in the past (terrible after birth)

roundabout1

sorry to hear your dd has got some problems with hypermobility. A couple of years ago I started a support thread in special needs children for parents of children with hypermobility... here is the link if you would like to join us, lots of different mums, and dads, lots of different degrees of symptoms, lots of different ages of children...might be helpful for you. Don't attempt to read back, just pop along and say hi, explain what is happening for you, and everyone will welcome you and share their stories and experiences and most importantly expertise.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/special_needs/1493160-EDS-Hypermobility-3

To actually answer your question. Yes your symptoms could absolutely be hypermobility syndrome. Some people are affected in very few joints, some are affected in many more. It is not necessarily symmetrical either, you can have one hypermobile knee and the other be fine for instance. I have suffered from joint hypermobility all my life as does my 9 yr old son. We are some of the few for whom it affects almost all their joints. We actually have ehlers danlos syndrome type 3, but current thinking is that that is just a more extreme form of benign joint hypermobility...or rather bjhs is a mild form of eds. I would be interested who told you the pain is probably "growing pains" not hypermobility related. This would not support any of the current research or medical thinking. I referral to a rheumatologist who has experience of, or who specialises in connective tissue disorders/diseases, who be the best. Otherwise a good paed, but these can be hard to find, and often miss the more subtle issues and links. Please consider following the link I posted.

Hi *Sparkle" I will pop into that group & say hi. Thanks for the invite!
The Paediatrician we saw last week diagnosed "growing pains" she has had blood tests (for what I don't know) but they have all come back clear. The Dr said as she likes her feet & legs to be massaged it is unlikely to be related to the hypermobility.

I think thb a OT or physio would be better placed to advise on a dx rather than a paed tbh. They have far more knowledge in that area. It might be worth asking for an OT referral too, for exercises to strengthen the muscles supporting the joints, and help with any difficulties she might encounter due to hypermobility.

I'm really not sure what on earth she meant about the massage thing tbh. Don't really see the link between that and hms. No reason why she shouldn't enjoy a good massage, jsut maybe avoid manipulating the joints, and concentrate on rubbing.

ds1's pains ARE caused by his hypermobility, when he overdoes it with his joints. He subluxated a finger last week, and his whole hand was swollen and bruised. He fell down the stairs last night because he has been trying to cycle to school this term and finding it exhausting - his limbs just buckle. It can be painful, though some professionals don't seem to recognise that.

roundabout - ignore the paed, as a sufferer for over 20 years and mum of a ds with severe eds.....the pain is caused by the hypermobility and rubbing the aching limbs etc really really helps, as does gentle physio to build muscles, warm compresses (hot water bottle or wheaty bag) and pain relief. The blood test are to rule out any other conditions like anything autoimmune or arthritis related. Hypermobility can only be dx by a differential dx ruling anything else out combine with physical examination and family history. They porbably won't repeat the blood tests again, until she is an adult (unless something changes drastically) when they will start doing them fairly regularly (once a year probably) to watch out for RA.
In terms of pain, hypermobility and pain in a joint can also cause deferred pain even to the middle of a limb, this is a recognised symptom in hypermobility. So you can get achy even nowhere near a joint and it is still caused by the hypermobility. Muscle cramps are also very common in children with hypermobility, in our experience they are worse at about 2 to 4 then happen much less often. Shall pop over to the hypermobility thread now to see if you have been over.