Are your joints too flexible? (Ligamentous Laxity) - Let's talk about this

Have you noticed that some of your friends bend their limbs in a strange way more than others? Maybe you can bend your thumbs until they touch your hands, or keep your legs straight and place your palms on the floor. While this is an advantage for some people for things like dancing and gymnastics, for others it can be a bit of an annoying and painful experience. Today we are talking about this 'excessive bending', which is a condition that we medically call Ligamentous Laxity .

What are these ligaments?

Simply put, ligaments are strong bands of tissue in our bodies. They're like rubber bands, but much stronger. Their main function is to hold our bones together and provide stability and support to our joints.

Think of our knee. The top and bottom bones of the knee are connected together by these ligaments. These are what keep our bones from moving too far apart or twisting too much. The main job of ligaments is to protect a joint in this way.

Also, not all ligaments are connected to bones. Some ligaments help to hold internal organs, such as the womb, in place. Even organs like the intestines and liver are kept in place because of these ligaments.

What are the symptoms of Ligamentous Laxity?

If you have this condition, you may be familiar with these symptoms. These are some of the main symptoms caused by ligament laxity.

What causes this situation?

It is estimated that between 5% and 12% of the world's population has such flexible joints. Young children's bodies are more flexible than adults. This is normal. Therefore, it is difficult to say that a young child's body bending is always related to a certain medical condition.

However, some genetic conditions have been identified as the main causes of this condition. Of these, we should be particularly aware of two.

Marfan Syndrome

This is a rare, inherited disease that affects the connective tissue in our bodies. People with Marfan syndrome are usually thin, tall, and have unusually long arms, fingers, legs, and toes. The disease can affect many parts of the body, including the heart, eyes, skin, and blood vessels. Some complications, such as swelling of the aorta, can be very dangerous.

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

This is also a group of diseases that affect connective tissue. People with this syndrome typically have very stretchy skin and very flexible joints. The most severe form, Vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, can weaken the aorta and other arteries. It can also cause the walls of organs like the colon and uterus to rupture.

The relationship between ligament laxity and accidents

We talked earlier about how ligament laxity can reduce joint stability. When ligaments weaken, they can no longer hold bones together properly. This is when dislocations or subluxations occur.

This relationship has been proven by several studies conducted on this subject.

• A study of 51 rugby players found that players with hypermobile joints had significantly more injuries than players without. Surprisingly, both groups had similar levels of muscle strength. This means that muscle strength alone is not enough to protect these players from injury.
• Another study found that men who had sprained their shoulder were 6.8 times more likely to have ligament laxity than the general population.

How to recognize this condition?

There is no definitive standard for defining ligamentous laxity. However, there is a method that is widely used by doctors around the world, called the Beighton test.

This test mainly checks the flexibility of several of your joints:

• The knuckle of the little finger
• Base of thumb
• Knees
• Spine
• Elbows

During this test, the doctor will ask you to do a few things:

• Keeping your legs straight, bend forward and place both palms on the floor.
• Bend your thumb back and try to rub it against the palm of your hand.
• Bend your little finger back more than 90 degrees.

What are the treatments for this?

If you don't have any pain or discomfort due to your joint being flexible, it doesn't require any special treatment. For most people, this isn't a problem.

The following are the main treatments that can be recommended:

• Physiotherapy: This is the best and most important solution. It can strengthen the muscles around your joints and provide more stability to the joints. It is very important to do the right exercises under the guidance of a physiotherapist.
• Splinting/Taping: Before engaging in sports or activities that may cause injury, you can provide extra protection by placing a splint or applying special tape to the affected joints.
• Prolotherapy: This is another treatment option. There are different opinions about it. It involves injecting an irritant solution into the painful ligament. It usually uses a type of sugar called dextrose. It is believed that this injection stimulates the growth of connective tissue and reduces pain. However, some studies have shown mixed results. Therefore, some experts believe that prolotherapy only provides temporary relief (placebo effect). Therefore, it is very important to talk to your doctor before undergoing any treatment.

ligamentous laxity, hypermobility, joint pain, joint dislocation, ligament, Beighton test, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Marfan syndrome, physiotherapy, joint pain, joint dislocation