I am what I know now is hyperextensive. One physical therapist called me a "gummi bear," because my joints are really stretchy. Sounds like that would be a good thing, right? Nope. I guess for all the men out there that like to make sexual jokes about a "double jointed" woman, it might be amusing. It however, is not terribly fun. Because my joints have more hypermobility to them, I get injured more easily.
I have seperated my knee twice. My fingers, elbows, hips and knees hurt often. I have to be careful doing stretching excersizes because it is kind of like heating up taffy. You just end up with a mess, usually me in the ER.
When I was in my teens, my right arm used to slip out of the socket all the time. It was weird, it was gross, and it hurt. But I don't think anyone actually believed me. Then when I was 19, I was at work and a ceiling fell in on me. The kind of suspended ceilings most retailers and offices have in them. The tiles, and one metal bar hit me just right on the shoulder joint. It tore up everything inside that shoulder. I had to have complete reconstructive and rotator cuff surgery. I have since then, had two more surgeries on the same shoulder. I also have a pin in that shoulder now. I really have to keep up with strength excersizes to keep all the surrounding muscles prepared to support my lazy joints and ligaments.
I have also torn all the ligaments in my right foot. At that time I rolled my foot. Most people would end up with a sprained ankle. I ended up with a support boot for 9 weeks. The doctor said it would have been better if I had just broken the ankle. Then at least they know exactly what to fix and that the fix would hold. With Hypermobility Syndrome, you never know when it will tear, or stretch too far. The last time I tore my rotator cuff, I didn't even know I did it. That presented as a pain in the neck.
Oh... have I mentioned that I'm a bit odd.
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