I'd love to push my daughter on a swing, but I can't without dislocating my joints, says mother suffering with rare 'very bendy' joints condition By Punteha Van Terheyden Published: 21:09 EDT, 17 June 2024 | Updated: 21:10 EDT, 17 June 2024 e-mail View comments As I rolled the dice in a game of Monopoly, a searing pain shot through my elbow and I could no longer bend or straighten it. My eyes teared up from the pain and frustration, but I didn't want my seven-year-old daughter, Amelia, to be alarmed, so I asked her to roll the dice for me. I didn't know it at the time, but my elbow had partially dislocated.
In fact, partial dislocations — or subluxations — had been happening daily for decades. In my coccyx and pelvis when I stood up; in my jaw when I ate; and in my thumbs when I drove my car — each time bringing pain, weakness and inflammation. Punteha: My eyes teared up from the pain and frustration, but I didn't want my seven-year-old daughter, Amelia, to be alarmed, so I asked her to roll the dice for me.
I didn't know it at the time, but my elbow had partially dislocated Punteha only found out what the disorder was while while watching a TikTok in 2022 about hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) that I got an explanation Looking back, the problem began aged six with my knees. I would plant my foot on the floor and twist to pop it back in place when my leg stopped working. At first, I didn't tell anyone as it didn't hurt, and I didn't realise that it was abnorm.
