Seen in a New Light

I’ve been busy writing for the book lately, so I thought I’d take a moment for a bit of a fun post. Before I was diagnosed with hEDS, I heard from others that the diagnosis can sometimes trigger a deeper understanding of one’s past medical history OR the realization that one is subluxing much more than they thought. Both, in fact, happened for me.

It seems that every day I remember some long forgotten injury that I now realize is likely related to EDS (poor proprioception, hypermobility, etc). So here is a running list of the bizarre, unglamorous, and downright weird ways I have injured myself as a zebra.

• Falling up the stairs (poor proprioception, easy bruising)
• Falling down a single stair (poor proprioception, ankle hypermobility)
• Skipping the last step, somehow (poor proprioception)
• Falling getting into the shower (poor proprioception, easy bruising)
• Stepping on a sidewalk crack (poor proprioception, foot subluxation)
• Getting out of the pool via the ladder (poor proprioception, knee/hip subluxation)
• Slipping on ice, slipping on ice again, slipping on ice again (poor proprioception, hypermobility, knee subluxation)
• Jamming my finger on the steering wheel (poor proprioception, pinkie subluxation)
• Jamming my finger on a basketball (poor proprioception, finger subluxation)
• Walking barefoot on the beach (poor proprioception, ankle hypermobility)
• Arm wrestling with a friend (shoulder subluxation)
• Going down a water slide (knee subluxation)
• Wearing a modest heal (broken toe)
• Stretching in bed (shoulder/knee subluxation, cramping)
• Sleeping (shoulder subluxation)
• Standing up after falling while skiing (knee subluxation)
• Vacuuming (knee subluxation)
• Slipping on a rug in the house (knee subluxation)
• Juicing lemons (wrist/hand hypermobility)
• Walking the dogs (wrist hypermoblity)
• Extending my arm (elbow subluxation)
• Putting on my bra (shoulder subluxation)
• Typing too much (wrist/hand hypermobiltiy)
• Slamming my finger in the car door, slamming my finger in the car door again. (Poor proprioception)
• Building furniture (wrist hypermobility)
• Sneezing too hard (neck?? subluxation? Something hurts like hell and radiates down my arms)

I am CERTAIN there are many more. It is just amazing to me all the strange ways I have hurt myself. And, so many times, I’ve felt the pop, gone to the doctor, only to be told it is nothing. I started to believe it was nothing, so I kind of stop paying attention to it. Now, I feel like I have permission to take injuries seriously, to make accommodations to my home/work, and to be EXTRA careful. Being careful is not being dramatic, but being sensible.