Can Being Double-Jointed Cause Pain?

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Arthritis Foundation

Arthritis Today

Research Spotlight

2001

Can Being Double-Jointed Cause Pain?

Being able to bend your joints beyond their natural range of motion may

do more than make you the life of the party. Research has suggested this

ability (called joint hypermobility) might up your odds of developing

fibromyalgia - or at least a " fibromyalgia-like syndrome. "

In a new study published in the Journal of Rheumatology, researchers

looked at 178 people - about half of whom had been diagnosed with

fibromyalgia, the other half with no fibromyalgia symptoms. They found

that people with fibromyalgia who met American College of Rheumatology

(ACR) diagnostic criteria, which include the presence of tender points

and widespread musculoskeletal pain, were slightly more likely to have

joint hypermobility than the healthy people.

The biggest difference researchers found, however, was in people who had

been diagnosed with fibromyalgia but who didn't meet the ACR criteria

for the syndrome. Thirty-one percent of those people had joint

hypermobility, compared to just 6 percent of those who did not have

fibromyalgia.

Why? " It seems reasonable to hypothesize that repeated minor trauma

[from moving the joints past their intended range] may result in

musculoskeletal pain that may eventually amplify into a more diffuse

pain syndrome recognizable as fibromyalgia, " says Ann Fitzcharles,

MD, associate professor of medicine at McGill University in Montreal.

" Clearly hypermobility is not the only or the major factor in the

development of widespread pain or fibromyalgia, but rather a

contributing mechanism in some [people], " explains Dr. Fitzcharles.

The authors' best advice: Though you may be tempted to bend over

backwards (literally) to entertain your friends, it's best to refrain

from such exaggerated joint movement that could lead to pain later.

-MARY ANNE DUNKIN

Source: Journal of Rheumatology, Vol. 27, No. 7

http://www.arthritis.org/resources/arthritistoday/2001_archives/2001_01_02_ar_do\

ublejointed.asp

I'll tell you where to go!

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

s Hopkins Medicine

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org