Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Hypermobility

Hypermobility Syndrome/double jointed/Overflexing/hyperextensive call it what you will and ASD seems to go hand in hand; I've heard so many parents comment on the uber-bendiness of their child's joints, the high number of dislocations and sprains.
Couple that with the often high pain threshold of ASD and you can get a dislocation or inflamed joint that barely registers on the kid's horizon for the day.
And it certainly doesn't get in the way of all that physical activity they get into.
Until something gives.
My own Aspie teen has frequent cramps, the urge/need to crack his knuckles and 'pop' whichever joints are bugging him.
When he was younger we woke up to find he'd flexed his hip joint until it trapped a nerve in the night.
First warning we had was he just wouldn't get out of bed the next morning.
No tears, no tantrums, no yelling, no pain.
He just wouldn't weight-bear.

Medical intervention saw the problem solved without surgery (thank Gawd!).
Which I keep in mind, wishing he'd chew his fingernails instead of flexing his fingers all over the place.

When hubby tracked down some family members he discovered a strong family trait of scoliosis of the spine, largely associated with the hyperflexing ability each member had in childhood.
In fact, every family member in one part of his family have a marked curvature of the spine.

Another issue throughout the family is weak wrists and/or ankles; by the time they reach 50-60 they usually need to keep their wrists/ankles strapped in a brace.
High rates of arthritis and other associated joint conditions, like Carpel Tunnel syndrome, RSI, etc, are common.
We've explained the drawbacks and problems facing him the future but it's become another of his rituals to crack each knuckle and to overflex his joints.
And after his first double footy match he almost bathed in Deep Heat.
I can see I'll have to buy shares in that one!

6 comments:

Lisa said...

Hmm, we have scoliosis, lordosis, double jointed elbows, and flexy hips in various family members.

Oddly, each family member has one or two from the above list.

Ro said...

It's a veritable buffet all round, Lisa lol.

elise said...

Have you looked into the possibility of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome? Check out www.ednf.org for more details on symptoms and diagnostic criteria.
Kindly, e

Ro said...

Thanks for that, Elise.
A blog friend has EDS and we've been able to rule it out, otherwise it would remain a complete unknown in our household :)

elise said...

Ok, but you also realize that it manifests differently in each person, even within families? Just checking.

Also, I assume you've had your son tested for fragile X syndrome? Hypermobility is a marker trait in FXS. www.nfxf.org 30% of all kids with FXS have autism. I don't know much about autism but it is recommended by clinicians to also have the FXS blood test to rule out this common disorder.

I wish you well and thanks for this great blog!

Ro said...

Yep, we've gone the geneticists route and they've ruled out Fragile X (and a few other ones) although we didn't know about the hypermobility through the family or EDS at the time.
Thanks, Elise, I do appreciate these suggestions - it's only through sharing info we get informed! :)