Neurodivergence, Hypermobility and Exercise

Authors: Amanda Carey and Holly Graham   What do hypermobility, neurodivergence and emotional regulation have in common? More than you may expect.    Over the last six weeks we have been looking into hypermobility and connective tissue disorders. We have created 3 podcasts: We have decided to share our fourth and final topic, exploring the link between…Continue reading Neurodivergence, Hypermobility and Exercise

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The Mental Health Maze of Neurodivergent LGBTQIA+ People 

Queer & Neurodivergent: Let’s Talk!  Welcome to a wordy blog about “things that makes life wild and wonderful but also really really hard”: Being LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent or what I like to say ‘neurospicy’.   For people who are both LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent (think: ADHD, Autism or somewhere fabulously off the neurotypical map) everyday can feel…Continue reading The Mental Health Maze of Neurodivergent LGBTQIA+ People 

A faded image of weights, a phone, waterbottle and resistance band on a table. The text over the top reads 'Exercise for hypermobility'

Exercise for Hypermobility

Exercise is an activity known to have a positive impact on holistic wellbeing. According to Geneen et al (2017) when living with chronic pain, exercise can reduce pain severity and improve quality of life. Before taking part in exercise there are 4 things to consider: Helpful tips when exercising 1. Reduce range of motion –…Continue reading Exercise for Hypermobility

HSD & Co-occurring conditions – Hypermobility Haven

Holly and Amanda are final year BSc Physio students at the University of Brighton. They joined the jboccupational therapy team for 6 weeks and wanted to share their knowledge and expertise with Jo’s readers. Holly has a diagnosis of joint hypermobility and has enjoyed working with Jo and her clients to explore the condition further.…Continue reading HSD & Co-occurring conditions – Hypermobility Haven

A red stop sigh with the word 'go' spray painted on it is faded into the backgroun. Medical Gaslighting is written over that in bold black font.

Medical gaslighting

Medical gaslighting is a term that refers to The dismissal or invalidation of a patients symptoms, concerns or feelings by a medical professional. The patient isn’t taken seriously, and the healthcare professional does not properly investigate. Instead, they usually attribute the symptoms to being psychological. After spending time on placement with Jo I felt a…Continue reading Medical gaslighting

Chronic Pain written on a cream background. Three cartoons show graphics representing pain with characters curled up surrounded by lightning bolts.

Understanding Pain Part 2: Chronic Pain

Hello again everyone. I hope you enjoyed learning all about pain in my last blog! That was just a basic overview of pain in general. This time I want to talk about chronic pain and central sensitisation. Hopefully this will give you a better understanding of what happens and why. Before coming on this placement,…Continue reading Understanding Pain Part 2: Chronic Pain

Fatigue Management -written in purple over a grey and white torn paper effect background.

Fatigue – How can we manage it ourselves?

I’m pretty sure most people reading this will have experienced fatigue of some kind. And I don’t mean the ‘Oh gosh I’m so tired, it’s been such a long day’ kind of fatigue. I mean the ‘I can’t bring myself to get out of bed this morning’ kind of fatigue. I have experienced this kind…Continue reading Fatigue – How can we manage it ourselves?

An ombre purple background with 'What is pain?' written on it and a photo of a blue skeleto with elextric pain points at the joints and head.

Understanding Pain

Pain is a funny old thing as there are so many different types. I find that when I talk to people about pain it can be a controversial and sensitive subject. Even today, when people know more about pain than they did before, there is still a stigma around it. Pain is subjective and is…Continue reading Understanding Pain

Physiotherapy for hypermobility (Pay no attention to the image you houldn't exercise in just socks) written over an image of a lady using a gym ball against a wall with a physiotherapist assisting

Physiotherapy for Hypermobility

Being hypermobile can cause symptoms that may mean more than just being flexible. The term hypermobility basically means being able to move a joint beyond normal range of movement (ROM) basically meaning that your joints can over bend and stretch. You may be ‘double jointed’ and flexible. For some people, this is totally normal and it…Continue reading Physiotherapy for Hypermobility

A faded background image of a patient sat on a gym ball next to a physiotherapist

Understanding Hypermobility: An Introduction for Physiotherapists.

Hypermobility can mean more than just being ‘bendy’, or ‘flexible’. This is hypermobility as a characteristic and then there’s hypermobility as a symptom for connective tissue disorders (Simmonds, 2022). Hypermobility Sydnromes including Hypermobility Spectum Disorders (HSD) and hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS), are conditions which present with injury, pain and other symptoms which can affect multiple…Continue reading Understanding Hypermobility: An Introduction for Physiotherapists.