Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

Medical Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi all,

My 14-year-old niece was recently diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Hypermobility Type. This diagnosis came about due to her hip repeatedly dislocating during basketball games and practices, beginning last November. She has no symptoms aside from joint hypermobility and never had issues prior to November, aside from occasionally rolling her ankle. I have two questions:

  1. Is frequent hip dislocation likely to cause permanent damage to the joint? It currently dislocates 1-3 times per game/practice. With the help of a trainer, she puts it back in place and resumes play.

  2. She has seen a couple of doctors and they have given her differing opinions on what she should do regarding her activity level. One suggests PT, the other does not. One suggests quitting basketball, at least for the short term, the other says she can play (her school season ended, but she is now playing on an AAU team). Do you have any thoughts on whether PT exercises focused on core and hip strength would likely be beneficial, or conversely, any reason why she shouldn’t do them? What about squats and deadlifts?

Basketball is very important to her, so I appreciate any input you can give, or direction you can point me in for more information. Thank you!

2

Paging @Derek_Miles

3

Hey Ky,

Could you give me a little more clarification in what you mean by “hip dislocation.” This can happen with a diagnosis of EDS but it is pretty rare.

In regards to training; resistance training is one of the better means we have with which to work on hypermobility syndromes. Without examining her I don’t want to guess on if she should keep playing basketball but if she is pain free and playing I would lean towards letting her continue. What position does she play, does she play year round, and what does her current cross training look like?

Also, could you @ me in the response so I see the notification.

4

@Derek_Miles Could you talk more about resistance training to work on hypermobility syndrome?

My wife has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. She’s interesting in resistance training and wants to get stronger, but she’s worried about injury related to hypermobility.