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No, there is no difference between them. Joint hypermobility is referred to as “loose joints” or being “double-jointed” by certain people, and it is a condition that affects the joints. These two phrases have the same meaning, namely, loose/flexible joints.
What does it truly mean to be double-jointed?
What most people conceive of as double-jointedness is actually hypermobility, which refers to joints that are capable of moving beyond their normal range of motion.
Collagen, a protein found in connective tissue, is responsible for the formation of your joints. If connective tissue is a structure, collagen is the bricks that make it up. It is because of the variations in how those bricks are put together that they are hypermobile.
Every individual possesses a varying degree of adaptability. Dancers and gymnasts, for example, are able to bend over backward.
Can humans be double-jointed?
In a nutshell, yes, they can. Double-jointedness, or joint hyperlaxity/hypermobility, as it is appropriately referred to, is a medical ailment that is considered to affect around 3% of the population.
Nature, like with most things in life, plays an important role as well. Nature, as with most things in life, is only part of the tale. Contortionists’ severe bodily motions are mainly the consequence of their own genetic make-up and many hours of training and practice.
Everyone knows someone (or, more likely, has known someone as a youngster) who boasts about having two joints in one hand. Afterward, these conceited braggarts would bend their thumbs all the way back till they met their forearms. However, despite their bravado, these playground show-offs were not real medical freaks, as they claimed. There is nothing as being double-jointed (literally two joints) in humans, at least not in the traditional sense. Those braggarts with bendy limbs -they’re simply remarkable in their adaptability.
Medical professionals and researchers refer to this condition as joint hypermobility or joint laxity, and it simply implies that someone has the ability to move their joints further than the majority of people. We can all bend our thumbs backward a few degrees, but some of us can bend our thumbs much more. We can all bend at the waist, but the joints in the spine allow some individuals to bend over to the point where they can lay their hands flat on the floor while others cannot. Everyone can spread his or her legs, but only a few people have pelvic joints that are movable enough to perform the splits.
Risks of being double-jointed?
Being double-jointed has long been associated with an increased chance of developing physical illnesses such as asthma and irritable bowel syndrome, among other things. Joint hypermobility has a negative influence on the entire body, not just the joints themselves.
Who is affected with joint hypermobility/double jointed?
As far as we can tell, joint hypermobility is quite widespread, particularly in children and young people. According to some estimations, around one in every five persons in the USA may have hypermobile joints.
Joint stiffness and accompanying symptoms can persist into adulthood in many situations, even though joint hypermobility and its associated symptoms might persist into adulthood.
It is challenging to guess the number of persons who suffer from JHS in the USA because the ailment is frequently overlooked or misdiagnosed. Women appear to be more susceptible than men, while white people seem to be less susceptible than those from other ethnic origins.
How many people are affected by joint hypermobility?
Joint hypermobility, which affects around 20% of the population, is characterized by an abnormally wide range of motion in the joints. For example, hypermobile people may frequently do things like connect their thumb to the inside of their forearm or lay their hands flat on the floor without bending their knees. The feature appears to be hereditary, and it appears to be caused by a difference in collagen, which is the primary structural protein of connective tissue.
Living with joint hypermobility
For the most part, those who have hypermobile joints will not have any difficulties and will not require any medical treatment or assistance.
However, because JHS may manifest itself in such a wide variety of ways, it can be pretty challenging to live with.
When it comes to managing pain and making everyday chores simpler, people with JHS generally benefit from a mix of regulated exercise and physiotherapy, as well as supplementary assistance.
Because of the nature of JHS, you are at more risk of injuries such as dislocations and sprains than the average person. Therefore, managing the illness may also entail addressing short-term damage when they occur while simultaneously following a long-term treatment strategy to control everyday symptoms.
Is There a Negative Side Effect to Being Double-Jointed?
Hyperextending a limb may appear to be natural to you — and, if you’re so-called “double-jointed,” it’s unlikely to be hazardous to your health in the majority of cases. However, it might occasionally serve as a warning sign for other medical issues.
What causes hypermobility to be a problem?
Hypermobile individuals account for around 20% of the population, as discussed above. Some of them are also at elevated risk for shoulder and knee dislocations, as well as other injuries. Except when hypermobility is associated with substantial pain or recurrent injuries, there’s typically little to be concerned about with this condition
Hypermobility vs. EDS
Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is a series of hereditary illnesses that are highly common. The fact that EDS affects connective tissue indicates that it is intimately associated with hypermobility.
Among the several types of EDS, hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is the most frequent. Most commonly, it manifests itself in the form of extraordinarily flexible joints, as you would have imagined. A further symptom is skin that is elastic and doesn’t mend properly.
While there is currently no treatment for hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, there are effective management strategies available. If you or your kid is suspected of having EDS, a doctor can offer lifestyle modifications and therapies that may be useful to you.
Interesting information
An excessive fight-or-flight response may also be connected with joint hypermobility, according to some research. The collagen defects that cause joints to be particularly flexible also appear to affect blood vessels, rendering patients more susceptible to blood clots accumulating in the veins of the legs. In order to sustain the production of blood from the heart, this pooling may result in excessive cardiovascular reactions from the body.
