By NMN on Sunday, June 04, 2000 - 03:24 pm:

What is the fine line that distinguishes hypermobile joints from Ehlers Danlos? I had a doc tell me he thought I might have EDS and another doc told me I only had
hypermoblie joints. 7 shoulder dislocations, two surgeries, and my shoulders (as well as hips) sublux on a regular basis. What is the difference between the two?
NMN

By Sue C. on Sunday, June 04, 2000 - 03:25 pm:

See the EDS websites, such as ednf.org for definitions. About 1-2 years ago, they re-defined the categories and eliminated several.

I agree with Bianca that skin involvement is often used as the dividing line between HMS and EDS. I've also heard "benign" HMS as being painfree. And skin
involvement means stretchy/ loose, fragile (i.e. stretchmarks), easily bruising, almost transparent, etc -- basically any type of skin that doesn't seem "normal" could be
related to EDS.

By Bianca on Sunday, June 04, 2000 - 03:26 pm:

Your question is not so easy to answer, because the experts are not sure themselves where the difference between EDS and HMS is.
What is clear is that they differentiate EDS in a lot of several subtypes. Some experts mean that HMS was or is still called EDS type 3 or EDS Type 11. The
classification I like most is from Beighton who doesn't speak from EDS type 3 and 11 any more but classifies HMS as "generalised articular hypermobility with or
without subluxationor dislocation" and "no skin involvment" in two types: 1. Familiar articular hypermobility, uncomplicated type (early EDS type 3) and 2. Familiar
articular hypermobility, dislocation type (early EDS type 11)
So you see, it is also possible that both docs mean the same thing and one say it is EDS and the other say that it is "only" hypermobility.
Generally the difference between EDS and HMS is that with HMS there is no invovment of skin.

By Barbara on Sunday, June 04, 2000 - 03:30 pm:

Here is the revised Nosology which discusses Hypermobile EDS and the other types

EDS Types

By Ian on Saturday, January 26, 2002 - 10:34 am:

If the tendons and ligaments surrounding joints allow a wider range of motion than is usual a person is hyper mobile and may be called “double jointed” by friends. There are many people with hyper mobile joints and they go through life like this without any problems. But if the hyper mobile joints cause problems such as frequent pain or joint dislocation the person may have Hyper Mobility Syndrome (HMS). Living with HMS can be a major problem in terms of pain and mobility problems. However, if the hyper mobile person has more than joint problems they may have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS). Various forms of EDS have hyper mobility as a characteristic but will also have skin stretch or other major problems that can even be life threatening.

To a person who has hyper mobile joints and great pain, or even unintentional dislocations, the name given to their problem (EDS or HMS) will be of little interest to them; what matters is not the seemingly fancy name but getting relief from their joint and pain problems.