Management of Articular Complications in the Hypermobility Syndrome

Hypermobile patients can be spared much unnecessary suffering by the establishment of the correct diagnosis. As indicated in Chap. 6, hypermobility is one of the great mimics in rheumatology. Many hapless individuals are misdiagnosed as suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (both adult and juvenile). Needlessly they are forced to suffer the anguish of living with that diagnosis and are exposed to the dangers of the slow-acting anti-rheumatoid drugs and other potentially hazardous treatments. Others, in the absence of observed physical signs to explain their symptoms (joint hypermobility is often overlooked), are labelled as neurotic. They either accept this and become resigned to a life of misery and disability, or reject it and go from one specialist to another in their quest for relief. Not surprisingly many seek help from practitioners of alternative medicine. It is self-evident that reassuring the patient that he or she has neither a potentially crippling disease nor, for that matter, a psychological one can have a profoundly beneficial effect on morale!