Nociplastic Pain and the Sensitive Nervous System by Professor Leslie Russek
Nociplasitic pain is due to sensitive nerves that have changed to become better at processing pain. This pain needs to be managed quite differently than “Issues with the Tissues.”
The 3 Types of Hypermobility Pain by Dr. Leslie Russek
Pain is a signal from your brain that it perceives danger. There are 3 types of pain: nociceptive, neuropathic, and neoplastic. People with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome or hypermobility spectrum disorder (hEDS/HSD) may have any or all of these types of pain, and the relative contributions may vary from day to day or hour to hour.
Managing Nociceptive and Neuropathic Pain by Professor Leslie Russek
Our previous post described the 3 types of pain: Neuropathic, Nociceptive, and Nociplastic. Knowing which type(s) of pain you have can help you manage pain more effectively. Think of it like taking your car to the mechanic – if they replace the air filter when you have a flat tire, it won’t fix the car. You have to address the correct problem. Similarly, different types of pain are managed differently.
If you’re hypermobile, chances are you may be suffering with coathanger pain.
Do you have ‘coathanger’ pain? What’s that? This is the pain that radiates across the shoulders, upper back and up into the neck. It looks like a coathanger. It’s a muscular pain and can often be helped by improving posture, alignment and improving muscle tone.
Relationships and Chronic Pain
I recently did a post about pain management. Someone raised the question on the post of ‘how can I communicate my pain to my partner effectively?’
The Lonely Chronic Illness Life
Living with a chronic illness can sometimes be lonely. It can be difficult for friends and family to really understand how we are feeling and why we don’t ‘get better’. It drives me crazy when people say ‘you just need a good night sleep’ – like it’s a miracle cure.
What people don’t see when you live with a chronic illness
What’s it like when you go out out – if you do go out out? Is there a lot of preparation and organisation involved? I have friends who don’t have EDS or chronic illness. They fill their weekends with activities from morning till night – doing multiple things in one day. And they don’t seem that tired.
Raising EDS Awareness with Bob and Brad
I am delighted to have teamed up with the most famous physical therapists on the internet (in their opinion of course) – Bob and Brad. If you know them, the theme tune to their famous YouTube channel is probably running through your head right now.
Living with Ehlers-Danlos – a life in two halves
Like many of us, I used to see my life in two halves. Pre motherhood, I lived with symptoms on a daily basis like muscular pain, daily migraines, digestive issues (diagnosed as IBS aged 12). I thought everyone had issues every day. But I held a full-time job in Human Resources, studied at university after a full day at work for my Master’s degree and arrived home at 10pm at night. I’d get up the next day and do it all again. Looking back, I can only imagine doing this lifestyle.
Hypermobility and Plantar Fasciitis
I’m not sure if it’s more prevalent in the hypermobile community but I see a fair amount of Plantar Fasciitis in the clinic. This is a painful inflammatory condition of the plantar fascia under the foot. This fascia runs from the heel to the toes. It is typically worse in the mornings when the plantar fascia has stiffened overnight, and movement gradually improves it during the day for some people.
