EDS/HSD Awareness Month Recap
It's been a wonderful month of celebrating and educating, but we're not done yet!
Between our recent relatable posts on social media, new YouTube series “Wait…am I Hypermobile?”, and new Flare Day Flow Chart, we've reached a lot of new people these past few weeks and wanted to take a moment to say welcome! Whether you've been here for days or since last year, we're always happy to do our part in educating hypermobile friends. Getting info on our conditions isn't very easy yet, and we're glad to be a place that makes people feel supported…mentally, emotionally, and in our joints! 😉
All of us here on the Stretchy Squad get it, we've all been in the same places. Wondering why our bodies are doing the things they are and how to deal with it. There's not going to be one easy answer, but we're here to help provide one piece of the puzzle. A large part of what we do is education with actionable items; newsletters with easy to digest info dumps on certain symptoms and how to manage them, YouTube videos explaining why there might be pain in a certain area and a free movement routine to help, and our paid coaching and physical therapy services along with the Pocket PT workouts and studio programs. We hope with the wide variety of ways we offer this education we can help people on their journey.
One thing everyone should take away from the information we share and what you may have seen from other EDS/HSD Awareness Month content throughout May is that EDS encompasses a large variety of symptoms. There is no one way EDS may present for everyone, and people with the same diagnosis and even the same EDS type won't necessarily have identical symptoms. At Empowered Movement we often talk about the most common ones but that doesn't mean that's all there is! Especially when it comes to the rare and ultra rare types there is so much more involved with those that we don't usually discuss.
Additional Resources
If you're looking for more information than what you've seen from us so far, we've got a few places to recommend!
The EDS Society is always the top of the list as the leading experts in all things EDS and the group that is helping define diagnostic criteria, care plan recommendations, and more! As healthcare professionals with these conditions, we wouldn't be where we are without the work the EDS Society does. Their website has an incredible amount of resources for medical professionals and the average person, including an area where you can search for EDS educated doctors near you. We're happy to be doing a fundraiser for this month to give back!
EDS.clinic is a site that offers telehealth services to some locations but also has a wonderful list of resources and articles that are written with the average person in mind. They provide references of medical journals for additional reading and cover a lot of different topics related to EDS and comorbid conditions.
What comes next?
Just because EDS Awareness Month is ending, doesn't mean the condition goes away! For us, it's easy to know what to do: continue being a source of EDS/HSD education and support for the community that needs it. Find new ways to meet people where they are and help them feel Empowered to learn what works for their bodies, encouraging Movement to build more stability for loose joints. And of course, continue sharing our experiences and knowledge so others know they are not alone.
For you? Well, that's entirely up to you. Not everyone's journey will look the same. Finally having a name to assign to certain conditions you've had for a long time can be an emotional experience, and everyone will handle that differently. Some may be ready to jump in to a full treatment plan and different specialist visits while others want to take time to do more research and start slow. Whatever your path, we'll be here for you. 💕
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This blog is written based on personal experience and is not medical advice. Always ask your doctor for individual concerns and support.