Hypermobility is an area that some of the therapists at Sydney Advanced Physio are uniquely interested in and experienced in. Hypermobility and Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS) are not
areas that physios traditionally receive training in and therefore management can be quite poor. EDS in particular, due to the nature of this connective tissue disorder, can impact multiple systems around the body and have patients reporting a wide variety of seemingly unrelated issues. Connective tissue is throughout your entire body and therefore changes to the connective tissue, or laxity in the structures can impact your:

  • Cardiovascular System
  • Respiratory System
  • Skin
  • Musculoskeletal System
  • Nervous System
  • Reproductive System

As you can see from this list the impacts of hypermobility and EDS could be significant.

Often what we see in the clinic is patients presenting and reporting painful joints and aching muscles. This can occur because they’re out of alignment or struggling to maintain control of their alignment and are therefore overloading certain structures which then become painful. It can also happen because their muscles are trying so hard to control their body all day that they’re fatiguing and hurting.

One of the keys to helping people with hypermobility is knowing what they would like to be able to do with their body. If you would like to participate in high impact sports then our physios will work with you to help you learn good movement technique, correct muscle activation strategies, and a good awareness of joint control. We also consider the impact of your chosen sport on your pelvic floor and pelvic organs and help you develop strategies to minimise the risk of any damage. The aim would then be to progressively build up the loads and speeds of movement until you can safely do your chosen exercise – like running – while minimising the risk of further damage.

Something we focus on at Sydney Advanced Physiotherapy is assessing the way your body moves during a task as an entire functional unit. This allows us to work out where to intervene and be most efficient at relieving symptoms or restoring movement, but it also allows us to help you feel which joints are the key ones for you to learn to control. Patients can be taught to feel like when a joint moves through space and be guided through an exercise programme that teaches them how to maintain joint control while building up their strength and stability. We have found that this approach has really good results in reducing aches and pains, frequency of presentation to the physio or doctor with pain, and also effective in helping patients achieve their goals.

For more information about what we do you can check out some of the videos we’ve made about hypermobility and EDS.

We train all of our physios in the most effective ways to help people with hypermobility issues. If you would like help feeling better in your body, help achieving your sporting goal or to better prepare your body for pregnancy and motherhood call 9416 4410 or book in online to see one of our therapists.