Is it rare to be double-jointed?
Hypermobility (more commonly called being double-jointed) affects about 20% of people.
What does being double-jointed look like?
You may have heard a friend, family member, or colleague say the phrase, “I’m double-jointed. Look!” The person may then bend or flex fingers, wrists, elbows, or shoulders seemingly backward or in impossible directions.
What does it mean when you are double-jointed?
If you’re double jointed, it means you have a joint that can bend a lot more than in the average person. This has its upsides and downsides: apart from being a great party trick to show to friends, it might also mean you get injured more easily.
Are people actually double-jointed?
Humans can’t really be double-jointed, though some of us are owners of surprisingly flexible joints. And that can have some surprising effects, says Jason G Goldman. No doubt you know someone (or more likely, knew someone as a child) who boasted they were double-jointed.
What parts of your body can be double-jointed?
Joints commonly associated with hypermobility (wrists, knees, ankles, elbows, shoulders) may be at more severe risk to dislocate or strain.
What does it mean to be double-jointed in your shoulder?
Hypermobile or double-jointed shoulders happen when the ligaments and joint capsule – the tissues that hold the shoulder together – become too loose. Weak muscles in and around the shoulder joint can also be part of the problem if you have a double-jointed shoulder.
Are double-jointed elbows genetic?
The trait appears to be genetic and is a result of variation in collagen, the main structural protein of connective tissue. Being double-jointed has long been linked with an increased risk for asthma and irritable bowel syndrome, among other physical disorders.
Is hypermobility and autoimmune disease?
Unlike the diseases noted above, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is not an autoimmune condition, it’s an inherited disorder.
What does it mean when your joints are double jointed?
In medical terms, double-jointedness is referred to as hypermobility, and it simply means that you have a greater range of motion in some or all of your joints than most people. To determine if you have hypermobility, try the Beighton test.
What is double jointed hypermobility?
Joint Hypermobility. Double-jointed would imply that the individual has more joints than normal or that their joints have a twice-normal motion – neither of these is true. The truth is that people who are called “double-jointed” have joints with more mobility than normal. In some individuals, this is normal.
Is double-jointedness a good or bad thing?
Although double-jointedness may have its advantages, it does, of course, have many downsides. In fact, the very point that many people, including some doctors, view double-jointedness as so advantageous can be problematic in itself. For example, Jay Kitson-Jones from HMSA told the BBC that people do not take the condition seriously.
How do you know if you have hypermobile joints?
A visit to your doctor can lead to a diagnosis. One tool they use is scoring the movements of your thumb, wrist, fifth finger, elbows, lower back, and knees to produce the Beighton score and using the Brighton criteria to further assess the number of hypermobile joints, pain, dislocations, injuries, and lax skin.
