By olga on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 05:26 am:

My daughter has HMS lots of pain she has hard time sleeping and doing day to day things. We saw a Doctor who diagnosed but we are moving to Alabama. How do you find a doctor in an area that has delt with this before? I don't know how to find one.

By Michelle Castle on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 05:52 am:

Olga,
Sorry to hear about your daughter. I'd suggest that you look at the Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation. EDS and HMS have a lot in common, and some doctors think they are the same thing. Regardless, EDNF members are your best resources for finding a doctor knowledgable about hypermobility related pain.

I don't know what part of Alabama you're moving to, but there's an active local group in northern Alabama. Their website is at http://www.ednf.org/groups/webs/northalabama/. You can email the director of the group from that page. She should be able to offer some help.

The other option is just to call local doctors, and ask to setup an appointment, whether by phone or in person, to interview the doctor. If he\she doesn't have time to do that, he\she probably won't have a lot of time for your daughter in the future. More than looking for an "expert" in HMS, just try to find a doctor willing to listen to you, and willing to learn.

Hope that helps. Email me at mcastle21@yahoo.com if I can do anything else to help.
Michelle Castle