Thanks for sticking with me when things got tough
“Thanks for sticking with me when things go tough”. I received this at the end of an email from a lovely EDS client. I work with some very complex cases. There are always going to be ups and downs. A condition like EDS or HSD is never linear. I am prepared for the unexpected.
What’s tissue tolerance? Can it help me avoid injury with hypermobility?
Injury prevention – how do we work towards that with hypermobility?
What really happens when we lock our joints?
What happens when we lock our Hypermobile Joints? As someone who always stood with locked knees and picked things up with hyperextended elbows, changing this pattern was really important for my joint health.
Chronic Illness Exercise – Do you mourn your previous regime?
What’s your relationship with exercise? Has it changed over the years? Did a chronic illness diagnosis change your approach?
Has the exercise message been movement at any cost?
Have you ever felt the message was ‘movement at any cost? I was speaking with a client recently who felt this was very much the message she had always perceived. We need to exercise, you must do it every day no matter what, even if it takes an hour or more. Regardless of how you feel or what the body is telling you. And if you don’t do them, you are failing or lazy. This is not the way forward. It is not healthy physically or mentally.
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.
EDS UK Community Champion Award Winner
I’m super proud and delighted to receive the Community Champion Award fromy Ehlers-Danlos Support UK. Thank you to Anne Lavery and Nikki Casey Eds for a lovely day when I was presented with my award.
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.
Feeling Accepted With A Chronic Illness
When I attended my first EDS The Ehlers-Danlos Society conference in Las Vegas in 2017, around 50% of my clients had EDS and hypermobility with pain. I was kindly invited to speak by Lara Bloom CEO of The EDS Society. I had just released the first online hypermobility course, Strengthen Your Hypermobile Core.
