When Injuries Don't Make Sense
I know we’ve all been there! Showing up limping, in a boot, with k-tape or a brace on, etc. Naturally, people ask what happened. The issue is, nothing happened! If you regularly injure yourself and never have a heroic story as to how you did, hypermobility may have been the reason all along.
Hypermobile joints can lead to frequent overuse injuries since they require a high level of stabilizing for even basic tasks. This is also why strength training is so important. Walking up/down the stairs may be difficult, so we have to train for these activities to build up movement patterns and stability during daily tasks.
To make it even more confusing, sometimes we can lift heavy things just fine, but light things end up leaving us with more pain. This can happen if your body isn’t prepped for the load. For example, lifting heavy provides a lot of nervous system input to tell your body where it’s holding itself in space. Light loads can feel even more unbalanced and wobbly without this input. We really should be working on both light stability exercises and heavy strength based.
Don’t forget, just because a movement is painful doesn’t mean the movement caused the pain. Your connective tissue disorder may have caused the pain, but movement is the best way to manage it. Not moving is even more dangerous when you’re in a hypermobile body. We just need to find the right amount of movement that works for your body without being too much.
Pain will always come and go, but knowing how to move through it allows for a quicker recovery.
K Tape
K tape can be a great tool to improve stability and proprioception when you have an overuse injury. Keep in mind, you must be able to tolerate adhesives for this to work for you. Try a small piece on your arm before using a large piece on your body.
Wrist Straps
Jellie wrist straps are a great way to stabilize your wrists during movement (or even just at work). Reducing overstretching can protect your joints in the long run. Save on any Jellie product with code JENNA10.
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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.