By richie on Thursday, January 04, 2001 - 05:34 pm:

my name is richie,age 34. motorcycle accident in 1988. currently have stiffness the entire day with pain most of the time. strangely, i have to crack my neck,nuckles,back,shoulders,ankels, and hip area...what should i do about it first...thanks all...

By Geri on Friday, January 05, 2001 - 11:14 am:

Hi, sorry to write here, but when someone who is very knowledgeable replies here could someone tell me how to crack my upper back to relieve it? In the last few days it has felt so uncomfortable and I've been desperately trying to relieve the feeling of needing to crack it - just once, then I know it'll be OK again. I cant stop fidgeting its so uncomfortable. I've never had this before - only in the last few days.
I would be so grateful for anyones advice while answering richies question . .thanks so much

By Gwen on Friday, January 05, 2001 - 06:52 pm:

Geri, I have the same need to crack my upper back, between my shoulder blades. Unfortunately it seems to be the one area that I can't manage to do of my own accord. What does work is to have an obliging spouse, friend or whatever standing behind you. If you cross your arms so your hands are on your shoulder, have them lift you sharply, holding you by the elbows you should get a satisfying crack!
Alternatively, lie on your stomach with arms my your side and get someone to press firmly but sharply on your spine, in an upward movement. May need to do this a couple of times to get the movement, especially if your muscles have gone into spasm.

By Johanna on Saturday, January 06, 2001 - 01:57 pm:

Geri, Gwen, be careful, especially with that second methode. My physio performed that one on me a few months ago and ever since one of my ribs keeps on subluxating and interfering with my shoulderblade. It was only one firm and well-placed movement and it instantly got my spine to crack, but unfortunately, my rib too.

By Gwen on Saturday, January 06, 2001 - 02:35 pm:

Thanks for the word of warning. I've been getting this done for four years without any adverse effects (so far!) My physio is pretty good and won't persist if he can't get it back reasonably easily. He prefers to have a couple of goes over consecutive days rather than use too much force.
Up until the middle of last year ribs haven't been too much of a problem but I slipped and landed on a plant pot and since then the one(s) I landed on have intermittently got stuck. I need to do a sort of stretch and wriggle to get it back with a quite audible crack. I might say that despite having seen two doctors and being put off work for several weeks(one at A & E) neither bothered to get X-rays taken so never discovered the extent of the damage. Obviously not total # as i could still breathe, albeit painfully, but after the force with which I landed I feel sure I cracked something. As I have private medical insurance I can't understand why no X-rays were taken at the time. I guess another instance of the general malaise of the medical profession.

By Johanna on Saturday, January 06, 2001 - 04:48 pm:

Thanks to you too Gwen. After spending much time on the computer today, my upper back was totally stuck. But I had my dad crack it the first way you discribed, it worked magnificent. My upper spine cracked in all 3 places needed in only one lift and no rib problem. A pitty I only live with my parents on the weekend... Hope your ribs and/or your doctors will be better soon.

By Johanna on Sunday, January 07, 2001 - 04:01 am:

Ooops, when I woke up this morning I was less pleased with my cracked back. It hurts!!! The pain is right on the spine, it feels like I'm completely bruised in all 3 places and I can hardly move my arms. Guess I am just not the person to crack my back, no matter what way.

By Geri on Sunday, January 07, 2001 - 08:17 am:

I got my mum to have a go for me the other day and she doesnt have the strength, so I'm going to ask a friend to help tommorrow. I've found that breathing in and pulling the abdominal muscles up (expanding the chest forwards) gets the tiniest little snap which offers a little relief. Luckily the need to crack it seems to have changed more to a dull ache, but it's still not comfortable, so if the friend doesn't work then I'll go to a chiropractor or someone similar.
I asked my doctor about whether stretching/exercise/Yoga would cause problems with double-jointedness and he said that being supple was a good thing and that if nothing hurt then not to worry. Maybe he was wrong because this back problem could have been caused by exercises (as I've never had this feeling in the upper/middle back before). The lower back I crack all the time because it gets stiff if I don't.

Gwen, how do you crack your knuckles? I tried it and only the first and second knuckles would crack, the others just bent. I never knew that I could do this before.

By Gwen on Sunday, January 07, 2001 - 11:26 am:

Cracking my knuckles! Hmmmmmmm. Had to stop and THINK exactly how I did it. OK. Cracking finger on left hand. Place middle finger of right hand on back of knuckle in hand (phalangeo-metacarpal joint?)Thumb of right hand goes to palm of left hand, sitting the length of finger to be cracked, from joint, up the finger to lowest phalangeal joint. Bracing the p/m joint with the finger push gently with your thumb until you get a satisfying crack and aaaaaaah! Repeat with other fingers as necessary.
To crack my thumb I have to adopt a slightly different technique. Again for left hand-oppose your hands as if you are going to shake hands with yourself. Have thumb of left hand in palm of right and bracewrist with fingers of right hand. Firmly rotate left thumb in backwards direction.
Johanna, I should have warned you to expect some soreness after being cracked. After all your muscles have held those joints in a certain position for so long and now they are having to adjust to a different one. Also your muscles are probably protesting vigorously. Try a wheat bag or hot water bottle and see if it eases up after a couple of days. I guess I've had it done so often that my joints have given up talking back at me.

By Geri on Sunday, January 07, 2001 - 01:47 pm:

Tried your method and did it a bit wrong at first, because my wrists gave an obliging crack instead! Managed to get the rest (and thumb, but a slightly diffrent way) apart from the third finger, which only cracks when pulled on. Fingers feel much freer moving though, what an odd feeling this is. My muscles feel a little bit sore along the tops of the fingers, which I don't understand because i thought the 'crack' noise was just air bubbles being released from gaps in the joint?

Johanna, I only just realised something - does your upper back always get the need to crack after being on the computer for ages? Because I've just realised that I've been solidly on the computer for about 5 days now,(for college assignments)which from not using it for ages. I'm thinking this could be whats caused it . . . I hope your back feels better soon.
Geri

By Sheena on Sunday, January 07, 2001 - 03:03 pm:

Geri and Johanna,
I had bad back pains when I worked on a computer all day, lower and upper back. My employer got several chairs for me to try out. The best one had many adjustments, including the curvature of the back and the height of the arms. But very important for me, it had a high back which I lent against and flattened my shoulder-blades. The upper back/shoulder problem went away.

It's not so easy if you work at home and have to deal with the suppliers yourself, but if you can find a way, try out some different chairs.

This is the company mine came from.
www.asd.co.uk/index.htm

By Johanna on Friday, January 12, 2001 - 09:51 am:

A good chair is essential for the lower back pain. I finally found something to help with the upper back pain. Yesterday I put a side-table on my desk and put the computer screen on it. It is about 30 cm / 12 inches above my desk now, it is great.

By Geri on Friday, January 12, 2001 - 10:19 am:

So what exactly is the correct posture for sitting at the computer? (I'll have to sit here for practically every day until the exams in June). I try to use the 'shoulders back, back straight, stomach in' type of idea but this takes a bit much concentration and end up leaning forward. Does anyone else have any ideas on this one?

By Johanna on Saturday, January 13, 2001 - 07:54 am:

This is what I've been told:
The correct posture for us, hypermobile people is different from the correct posture for other people. Our correct posture differs from person to person. It could be the usual correct posture but it could also be totally different. It should always be an ergonomic posture. Trying to find your correct posture it is best to start from, the average correct posture and then trying to feel what hurts or what is painfull, then adjust your chair and your posture untill you feel like you could sit like this for hours, well in our case, an hour.

By Lynelle on Wednesday, April 04, 2001 - 09:37 pm:

I am so glad I found this message board! Does anyone know if there could be a relation between pylorospasm(Gastroparesis) and Hypermobility Syndrome. I was told that I possibly had a hyperactive vagus nerve and IBS. Does anyone know if there is a relation? I am hypermobile in just about every area. And can anyone here who is hypermobile flip their arms around their heads from front to back with hands clasped together? I have always been superflexible and always achy and tired, I guess CFS, but I never put the two together until now.

By Gwen on Thursday, April 05, 2001 - 09:09 pm:

Hi Lynelle, isn't it great to find this board and realise that there are thousands of others experiencing similar symptoms and that they aren't imaginary! IBS seems to go hand in hand with hypermobility but I don't think anyone has yet worked out why. The gastroenterologist that I see never realised there was a limk between them until I showered him with abstracts from research papers. I've had colonoscopies and sigmoidoscopies which revealed multiple polyps and adenomas which were duly removed but with no improvement in the IBS. He now thinks it is a sympathetic nervous system problem and, basically, I just have to live with it and modify my diet. I find my biggest problem is that I seem not to have any peristaltic action in my bowel. My motions are soft, definitely not constiapted, but only come out in dribs and drabs as my bowel is full. Rather than a good clear out at regular intervals I seem to be going all the time. I also have a rectocele which doesn't help matters and find when my bowel is full I also have stress urinary incontinence . Again pelvic prolapses seem to be more common in hypermobiles. My son who also shows signs of HMS was born with bilateral inguinal hernias. Hope this may be of help to you.

By Vicky on Sunday, April 08, 2001 - 01:49 pm:

Gwen
those symptoms sound so familiar; I was putting it down to side effects of drugs though. What improvements have you made to your diet?

By Patrina on Thursday, April 12, 2001 - 07:28 pm:

Dear Lynelle,

I used to do that 'trick' - at age 42 my shoulders aren't quite as hypermobile & I have more arthritic symptoms, but they're still real loose. They didn't become much of a problem till the past year or so. My knees & ankles, for most of my life, have been the most problematic of my hypermobile areas.

I had a tumor removed from one knee in the fall, and have used a cane since ten days after. The combination of (lifelong)weird sleeping positions & overuse of my right shoulder are making the shoulder act up now. But my tumor may be back and I doubt we'll do anything serious with my shoulders until I know if I'll be on crutches, etc. again soon.

By Lynelle on Saturday, April 14, 2001 - 10:39 am:

Gwen and Patrina,
Thanks for replying and Im sorry to hear about all of the problems you all have had from this. I have already had a colonoscopy and Endoscopy and a Gallbladder ultrasound and nothing was found except for the pylorospasm. A couple of days ago I had a severe pain on the right side of my belly. I also had severe gaseous pains and forceful bowel movements. Later I thought I was having a bowel movement and it was blood! I went to a Dr. yesturday and she performed an Anoscopy, she said I was inflamed and no signs of hemorroids so I have no idea where the blood is coming from. She seems to think I should have a repeat colonoscopy. Im only twenty-four and I had a bad experience with the last one. I woke up in the middle of it. So Im a little nervous about doing another one. I have had terrible luck with doctors over all of this, I just want to go back to having a semi-normal life. Blood has no association to IBS but I wonder how common it is to misdiagnose or miss something on a colonoscopy? I hate to go through that again for nothing. Sorry about this being so long but I just need to vent:(

By Judy on Saturday, April 14, 2001 - 03:52 pm:

To: Lynnelle about rectal bleeding. Today I just made a photocopy of a brochure entitled, "Diverticulosis & Diverticulitis." Have they mentioned this condition? I think the diverticular condition of the colon is fairly common in EDS patients. "At times, bleeding can occur from a ruptured blood vessel in diverticuli (pocket or projection extending from the colon).This may produce a gush of blood from the rectum or, occasionally, black stools when the bleeding is from a diverticulum in the right colon." The solution: high fiber diet

By Michelle on Saturday, April 14, 2001 - 05:59 pm:

Your right about a high fiber diet for diverticulosis, but what everyone must remember is that when there is sever pain and/or associated bleeding to see your GP as it is common to need antibiotics to prevent fistulas (really nasty and require surgery if they develop). I should know I had surgery for one before they found out the cause, they said they did not think of it because I was only 30 at the time and far too young for it!!! One more trick, it may sound daft, but if you are like me and eat very little sugery foods, and don't have sugar in your drinks a can of coke or such can help in getting the bowel working! Its the sugar, its really important to have enough in the diet to assist the bowels. Just don't OD on it!

By Patty on Thursday, April 19, 2001 - 12:43 am:

Bowel probs. Yup. My colon has stopped all peristalsis four times. The stools are soft putty when they do come. I eat NO sugar that is refined, but lots of fresh fruit with all their fiber - not juice. I also eat two big - 3 or 4 person size - salads of fresh vegies daily and take two servings of psylium daily. Now I don't have problems other than that my body slowly requires more fiber to maintain motion as the years go by. (my rectal fissures are gone, too.) The key is to decide you are not going to live by your taste buds, but rather you are going to eat for quality of life.

By Lynelle on Thursday, April 19, 2001 - 03:56 pm:

Thanks for all of the help. Its been exactly one week and Im still having pain. Im very confused about all of this?! I eat plenty of fiber (sometimes it seems to make it worse??) and Im a vegetarian. I have tried many different things with my diet and still having troubles. I see another GI in 3 weeks so I guess I will have to deal. The doc thinks maybe colitis but I have already had one colonoscopy so I don't know how they will find anything different on another one. I have mentioned my hypermobility to one doc before but she didnt seem to think it fit. I wish someone would figure it out. Thanks for all your support!

By Patty on Thursday, April 19, 2001 - 04:14 pm:

Wow, Lynelle. I am really sorry to hear that you are still having problems without the fiberless products from animals and with lots of fiber. I hope they find the problem for you.

By Gwen on Friday, April 20, 2001 - 02:22 pm:

Sorry to be so long replying to your query about diet but my computer went on the blink and had to go in for servicing.

I went on an exclusion diet. Basically all one eats for a week is rice or soy products, fruit, unprocessed meat and green vegetable, no tea, coffee or alcohol. One at a time other foods are introduced and a note made if there is any reaction to them. At the time I showed a reaction to rye, bran and milk but not to gluten or milk products such as cheese or butter, so figure that one out.

I try to have a balanced diet, low in fats and mostly get my fibre from fruit and vegetables as I find bran too harsh and things like Metamucil make my stools too soft and squidgy.

For the past few months I've been doing Weight Watchers and being on their plan does seem to help, which is coincidental to being on it to lose weight. I limit my milk intake to having it on my cereal in the morning and maybe the occasional ice-cream or yoghurt.

As a child I had an allergy to milk and would vomit every time I was made to drink it at school (in the days of School Milk) but thought I'd grown out of it until I did the exclusion diet.

I remember reading somewhere (and I've forgotten the source) that an intake of milk and related products is unnatural in adulthood. Apparently humnas are the only animals that still include milk in their diet after childhood, and the milk of an alien species at that. The author of the article went on to say that osteoporosis is a result of medical science keeping alive people who are past their 'use-by' date. In previous generations it wasn't a problem because people didn't live long enough for the calcium in their bones to become so depleted. In other words, by prolonging life beyond its natural span science is only creating more problems. Another disorder he mentioned is NIDDM (Non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus) which occurs frequently in people in their late 70s onwards. Basically they are living longer than their pancreas is able to function.

Which got somewhat off the track, but I think the point this person made about drinking milk is a valid one, stop or cut down your intake once your bones have stopped growing (about 20 for a female and 25 for a male)and you'll prevent digestive disorders. He also said that our ancestors got their dietary supply of calcium from meat eating. Because of the methods of preparation fragments of bone were often left in the meat. People also used to crack open bones to eat the marrow and would chew the meat off the bones, inevitably getting some bone material at the same time.

Food for thought?

By mickey on Saturday, April 21, 2001 - 06:30 am:

I would just like to add that a persons bones never stop growing as such. They are a living organ and as such need to be looked after like the rest of the body.

By Gwen on Sunday, April 22, 2001 - 02:03 pm:

Perhaps I should qualify what I said abour bones growing. At the ages I said, they actually stop lengthening and the growing areas at the end of the bones calcify. Of course they are living organisms like any other part of the body apart from hair and finger nails but they aren't growing in the sense of getting bigger. An adult's need for calcium is very much less than that of a child because of this. One of the biggest causes of osteoporosis is lack of exercise rather that a deficiency of calcium in the diet. This is why older people and those confined to wheelchairs are at much greater risk of fractures, the calcium has leached out of their bones because of inactivity. Incidentally it is also why these groups of people are at greater risk of kidney abd bladder stones, which are the calcium compounds that were in their bones being excreted out of the body.
Some calcium in the diet is definitely needed to replace that which is excreted naturally but not the huge amounts of dairy products that most people seem to consume. A balanced diet and a moderate amount of exercise should be sufficient for a healthy person's requirements

By Patty on Sunday, April 22, 2001 - 05:51 pm:

Have you ever stopped to realize that the countries with the most osteoporosis are the biggest milk consumers? Protein causes your system to be acid and our bodies have to neutralize the acid by pulling the calcium from our bones. Milk is very high protein. The calcium in the milk is not adequate to offset the protein when you think about all the other protein in the diet. A good kidney doc will tell his patients to go on a low protein diet. Our gastro doc (a prof from University of California Los Angeles Medical School) in the States told us that if we ate our green leafy vegies raw, we would absorb the calcium in them in adequate amounts because there is also vitamin C in them. If you cook them, the calcium and iron is bound and not usable because of the other things in the plants. He advised us to eat lots of dark greens, raw, and no milk products (my hubby can't handle them and I, too, used to vomit whenever I had milk as a kid.) Since I got off all dairy in any form (and meats) my asthma is gone. Yippee! Please pass the salad!

By John on Saturday, January 19, 2002 - 10:07 pm:

Hello'
I hold my arms stiff and lean forward onto my hands on a counter a tad higher than waist level. This usually cracks the area of my spine between the sholder blades. I have to relax and hold the position for a while, sometimes it pops right away.
John

By Margareth on Sunday, January 20, 2002 - 04:06 am:

It cracked both my wrist, one ankle and one hip :-)

By Az on Monday, December 30, 2002 - 02:20 am:

Re Richie just get back on a bike and ride (Yes Im a biker ) I have always had to crack joints to release discomfort although it isnt always easy to do. I have found if you get an exercise ball (Or as I have done a space hopper (UK) Hippity hop (US) more fun ) You can lean over it touch the floor with your hands and feet and stretch your spine gently this way. IBS is common with HMS/Eds as our intestines/bowels will also be too stretchy like the rest of our organs/muscles. Try a natural culture yogurt like actimel to neutrilise the germs in your gut. High fibre does not always help with IBS, also some wheat can be a major problem as can milk and alcohol.

By Back Cracker on Wednesday, April 07, 2004 - 09:31 am:

The way I crack my upper back is by lying on my back (a hard floor works best) and bend both of my legs up toward my chest; then, I clasp my hands behind my head like I'm going to do a sit-up. With one swift but not forceful motion I can crack my upper back from the middle of my back to the area between my shoulder blades. It loosens things up nice and relieves a lot of built-up tension from computing or whatever. Hope this works for you, too!

By corkie on Thursday, April 29, 2004 - 09:31 am:

TO BACK AND NECK CRACKERS....
i HAVE BEEN CRACKING MY NECK AND BACK FOR ABOUT 2 YEARS NOW. Now if I don't crack it my arms go numb. I had a whole bunch of tests done and now I am told I have DEGENERATIVE DISK DISEASE. I am supposed to have some sort of surgery. The doctors say this usually only occurs in the elderly. I am 33. ps please excuse my spelling.