I just watched a video where a person demonstrated criteria for joint hypermobility and how ehlers danlos syndrome shows on the skin and I had everything. o.O

but *knock on wood* as long as it's not a health problem I don't have to investigate this further..

@distelfliege it's certainly a good reason to keep active if you can and be mindful of overuse injuries, my experience of EDS is that deconditioning is the worst thing for it (but it's really a very varied thing, what is true for me is not necessarily true for others, and I have various comorbid stuff going on which exercise also helps)

@artsyhonker that sounds like essential advice!

could you explain what deconditioning means here? I understood it like "unlearning things/moves that aren't good for you"

@distelfliege ah! No, that's good, though hard work; I mean loss of general strength/fitness through inactivity, in my case usually because of injury.

@artsyhonker oh, thanks for explaining! :) I'm pretty active and I think I'm also an athletic (chubby) type so that is good for me.
I can't run because of my knees, I had so many injuries in my teenage years that the knees are both really messed up. I couldn't walk long disctances. but I can ride my bicycle

@distelfliege Cycling has been a really important way for me to maintain some fitness when I couldn't walk far or fast without pain (knee issues, then shin splints, then plantar fasciitis). When my knees eventually complain too much about the cycling, I plan to buy an electric assist bike.

@artsyhonker me too. but luckily, it's still okay. I love spending my summer vacation with cycling tours, camping, and that's where I can only ride a muscle powered bicycle. to recharge an e-bike would force me to leave the forests and beaches every night to get to a power outlet.

I have to ride less km per day sometimes, or take a rest day when on tour but most of the time, it's ok.

@distelfliege I can't camp any more: haven't found a mattress that doesn't leave me in agony :-(

@distelfliege but I'm holding off on electric assist as long as I can, because the longer I wait the better the technology will get

@artsyhonker oh, that's reason for hope!
I do also hope I can keep camping for as long as possible. matresses are a problem, but I'm doing really lots of yoga-style gymnastics (in a hypermobility-aware way) to keep my back healthy. the newer air matresses with just the right amount of air in them are cool for me.