Okay, this blog post is a bit ridiculous, but I don’t care. Sometimes, hypermobility leads to what I call The Injury Olympics™. It’s kind of like The Trauma Olympics™, where friends get together and try to see who has the most traumatic childhood (anyone see the candy bowl confessions trend on TikTok??).

But as I began to understand my hypermobility, I began considering allll of my health issues throughout my whole life. And suddenly, I just wanted to write all of them down to stare at, jaw flappin’, feeling like both a superhero and also like Mr. Glass from the M. Night Shyamalan Universe.

One thing I want to note is what might be considered miraculous, but what a chiropractor once said might be attributed to being hypermobile: I have fallen off horses an uncountable amount of times (I’ve been riding for 25 years), been in a LOT of car accidents (some my fault, most of them not), and I’ve only ever broken one bone: a middle finger thanks to the pommel on a horse saddle.

The chiropractor theorized that my flexibility has allowed my body to respond kind of like how a drunk does in an accident: the body is more loose already, so it’s more difficult to break something. A blessing, maybe.

Anyway, here’s the list of shit I’ve dealt with! Maybe you’ll be able to relate! (ALSO, this is probably oversharing. Guess what? I don’t care).

1. Two hernias at the age of 5 (woke up during the surgery)
2. “Growing pains” my entire childhood
3. An infected lymph node at the age of 7 (woke up during the surgery)
4. Chronic, lifelong constipation that doctors couldn’t figure out
5. A torn rotator cuff at the age of 15
6. Stress fractures at the age of 19
7. Bicep tendonitis that lasted two years in my twenties
8. On and off wrist pain from the age of 23 and beyond
9. Frozen shoulder at the age of 27
10. Frozen shoulder at the age of 28
11. Possibly broken tailbone at the age of 29 from horseback riding, but can’t fully confirm. Either way, it hurt for six months.
12. Food allergies discovered at the age of 32
13. Left arm impingement from the age 31-33.
14. Two colonoscopies at the age of 25, trying to figure out my gut (woke up during surgery)
15. On and off left knee pain forever, basically.
16. Left big toe pain since the age of 36
17. 24/7 right hip pain since the age of 34
18. Ribs popping out of place whenever they damn well feel like it
19. A sprained ankle at the age of 37
20. Left thumb degenerative weakness since the age of 38
21. Neck pain for, like…ever….including a frozen neck from the most random things, like trying to change lanes while driving
22. Tested positive for Mast Cell Activation Syndrome
23. Bruises from just existing
24. My shoulders subluxating whenever the fancy strikes.

 

 

Related Medical Care I’ve Received:

• 8 Chiropractors
• 5 Personal trainers
• Uncountable amount of Massage Therapists
• Two Occupational Therapists
• Three Physical Therapists
• 8 MRIs
• Two CT scans
• Uncountable amount of X-Rays
• Four Gastroenterologists
• Two sets of crutches
• One podiatrist
• One cast
• One steroid shot
• Three food allergy tests
• An uncountable amount of braces
• An uncountable amount of ice packs
• Tested for all autoimmune diseases (I have none)
• 248,382,443 iBuprofen?

 

And you know what? Not a single one of those professionals diagnosed me with hypermobility. It wasn’t until I read Fourth Wing and did a deep dive into TikTok that I began to understand how best to advocate for myself.

One of the worst side effects of hypermobility is the deepening fear of more pain. After hurting my toe and wrist trying boxing back in 2021, I’ve scaled back significantly when it comes to working out. In some ways, this has made things worse for me, I think. Making yoga a lifestyle for me is helping me trust my body again, which has been amazing. I’ve included photos of a few experiences I’ve had in this life, unknowingly hypermobile…and walking away without a single injury.

In spite of all the issues I’ve experienced, all of these injuries and healing procedures has helped me serve other people even better. I’m a firm believer in the best lemonade made with tons of lemons—helping others is just adding the sugar.