Does your physio say you are generally hypermobile?

It sounds like it but fill us in on this. General hypermobility may may be linked to a particular connective tissue disease which often accounts for the more extreme versions of general hypermobility or you may just have general hypermobility - in the normal world where at one end of the curve you have people with very little movement at their joints and at the end you have a lot of movement.

If your muscles are really tight and overactive two reasons come to mind:

  • your muscles are trying to compensate for your hypermobility - as the ligaments aren't holding your joints together properly your muscles are instead
  • You are overtraining in the gym. What are you doing in the gym?


You should be able to maintain an active lifestyle and it would do you no good to give up physical activity. However you may need to modify some activities atleast in the interim.

As far as the physio goes I don't know what they are doing for you re: strengthening and stretching exs. However the ultrasound may not be doing very much - ultrasound doesn't have much evidence as an effective treatment for these sorts of problems. has the physio had a good look at your posture and movement for muscle imbalances - ie where one muscle is shortened and tight while it's opposing muscle is lengthened and weak.

Have you heard of the Feldenrkrais method or the Alexander Technique? These are two systems that are about improving the way you use your body in your posture and movement. They are really about education rather than therapy. Either method may be helpful and worth trying. Of the two, the Feldenkrais method is more dynamic and may suit you better. You could give either one of them a trial over a few sessions and see if it makes a difference. Both of them have some evidence for their effectiveness in chronic problems.