Isn't Robert the fellow who had a hand in a program on TV about EDS? I think it was on the Discovery Health channel or TLC, and Kristina, I remember you telling me about him.

Yipes! I've always thought of EDS as the "opposite me" syndrome. I have too much collagen messing up my joints, so they don't really move much or very easily anymore. (Thanks scleroderma! Thanks a lot. Hrmph.) My oh my those pics look PAINFUL!

Haha but for us those positions typically aren't. My rheuamtologist popped my hip out of place by accident and was shocked when I told him that didn't hurt at all. Putting my feet behind my head does hurt because I do have tight IT bands.

I'm not very familiar with scleroderma...I looked it up after I met you...and yeah i did think "Wow that's the opposite of me!"

I actually know at least one of the people these photos are of and she has a very severe form of H-EDS with marfans cross over and has SEVERE joint instability she has had multiple joint fusions and is looking at a number more at present and she is only in her mid 20's.

There are more shots on the net of EDS as well (do a google images search for Ehlers Danlos or Hypermobility and see what you find...

Wow. Chalk me up as another who thought some of these things were normal. The stretchy skin, 'bendy' joints and such, all me. Although I did entertain some of my friends when I was younger with the flexible thumb joint 'trick' so that was obviously not normal. I also have floppy ankles and such. Very interesting. I had just started to suspect that I may have some hypermobility involvement with my (also suspected) ANS issues. More for me and the docs to look into.

The guy in the pictures name is Robert! He's a cool dude and one of my EDS buddies!!!

Yeah...I can do like all of that stuff. I thought it was so normal.

cool pics. nice to see others bending how i do. not nice for them tho.

but the skin thing. whats the issue with that? my skin does that, at elbows, hands etc, thought that was normel? is that a sign of hypermobility?

ooh foot clapping!

we got a poll going on the hmsa forum on who can clap their feet.

Not hypermobility...but a connective tissue disorder.

Wow...these are amazing pics. I will have to show them to my family or to those who are interested in EDS (they will help me explain what this is). Thanks for the link, Sunny

I don't even belong here because I haven't seen my rheumatologist yet, but .... I had no idea that not everyone can clap their feet

When I first saw these pictures I couldn't understand the fuss. I kept going "Well anyone can do that" or "What's hypermobile in this pic? I don't see anything".

As for foot clapping, really? People can't do that? Count me in on that.

I was the same way about the foot clapping until, my bf pointed out that it was normal... haha (as well as a few dr's, my neuro was especially impressed). My mom is able to do it too.

I'm looking at the photos again and I have so many questions. Is this an okay place to ask them? I have an appointment with a rheumatologist in a few months to explore the possibility of having JHMS. I don't think I have EDS. But can you have stretchy skin and JHMS without having EDS? My skin is only slightly stretchy in some places (elbows and back of hand) and I think it's probably within the realms of normal.

I score 5/9 on the joint laxity test thing (?Brighton/Beighton) because neither my elbows nor knees bend backwards. I've had joint pain since last November when I got sick with a virus - the pain never went away. My blood tests show no rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. So a rheumatologist is the next stop. I'd never even heard of EDS until Gila mentioned it on another thread.

*bump*