General Advice for living with Hypermobility

Most of the pages on this website area targeted to a certain scenario or body part. The purpose of this page is to share general advice on how to live your life as a hypermobility sufferer. Everybody is different, but I strongly believe that these things have helped me deal with my symptoms.

Hypermobility Specialist

If your condition has not been diagnosed yet, I suggest you find a local hypermobility specialist to assess you and provide you with a diagnosis on your exact condition. They can provide practical advice and referrals to help you manage your condition in a targeted way. This was the start of my personal journey.

Image of a male medical professional looking a some medical notes
Image of a female physiotherapist stretching a woman on a massage table

Physiotherapist

Secondly, I have recommended exercises on this site that I hope will help you but I strongly recommend that you visit a specialist hypermobility physiotherapist to provide you bespoke exercise routines tailored to your specific needs. 

Remain Active

I strongly recommend that you remain as active as you can, even if you're feeling pain or discomfort from your hypermobility symptoms. Your body wants to move, and the stronger your muscles and ligaments are, the less strain your hypermobile joints will be under. I lift weights 4 or 5 times a week, and I undertake short cardio workouts around this which I adapt based on which joints I'm having problems with. The most frequent cardio session I  do is the 15 minute insanity workout by HASFIT. As the instructor says in the video, you can adjust this workout based on your level so it doesn't have to be insane if your fitness level isn't where you want it to be yet! With all new exercises, I start very cautiously with short durations, low weight and reps and see how my body reacts. From there I slowly increase the time, weight or reps each time to give myself a target. If you feel pain please stop. I do recommend that you see a specialist hypermobility physiotherapist to give you the best exercise programme based on your body.

Image of a woman working out with two dumbells
Image of a woman sitting on a desk chair with her arms above her head stretching

Take frequent breaks

For my body, sitting or standing in the same position for long periods of time is detrimental to my body as a hypermobility sufferer. 

1. Take frequent breaks from sitting or standing, ideally every 30 minutes but at least once an hour. Take a walk and have a stretch, or sit down if you've been standing. 

2. Mobilise your body with stretches throughout the day. There's a great 7 minute video from STRETCHIT that you can build into your daily routine which will help your body from getting stiff.

Desk & Office Setup

If you're an office or desk based worker, it's critical that you get up your work space using ergonomic principles. Sitting at a desk for long periods of time has for sure caused much of my hypermobilty related discomfort. For office and work related recommendations please visit my dedicated page.

Image of a man sitting comfortably in a desk chair
Image of a man sitting on the edge of a bed with his head in his left hand looking in pain

Pain Management

The reason you're probably on this site is that you're looking for tips on how to manage your hypermobility pain. I can't say this is going to go away, it certainly hasn't for me, but I have found a set of products that help me reduce the impact of my symptoms on my life. Check out my pain management recommendations page at the link below. 

Sleep

One of the greatest impacts of hypermobility syndrome on my life is that it can make it difficult to sleep. I have created a page of recommendations to reduce pain and discomfort in bed at the link below.

Image of a woman sleeping peacefully

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