All Ways Well - Acupuncture & Wellness in La Center
  • Home
  • Book Now!
  • Blog
  • About
    • Covid19 Information for Patients
    • About Rebecca
    • Traditional Chinese Medicine - Ancient Methods for Modern Times
    • Testimonials
    • FAQ
    • Pricing
    • Medicare Chronic Low Back Pain Acupuncture Benefit at All Ways Well
  • Services
    • Acupuncture
    • Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture
    • Chinese Herbal Treatment
    • Virtual Fullscript Dispensary
    • DAO Labs - Order online!
    • Rasa Adaptogen Tea - order now!
    • Auto Accident Acupuncture
    • Gift Certificates
  • Resources For Patients
    • Food Allergies & Elimination Diets
    • Irritable Bowel Syndrome
    • Amazon Store
  • Contact

Exercise and Ehlers Danlos Syndrome by Brian Kitzerow, DPT, CMPT, OCS

10/5/2017

Comments

 
Picturewww.runwaypilates.com
We all know that there are several benefits that occur from participating in regular exercise.  But is exercise specifically helpful for the hypermobile type Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) population?  And if so, how and why?  

We have good evidence that exercise is helpful for many components of our lives.  It helps with hormonal control of estrogen, testosterone, progesterone and cortisol.  It improves sleep cycles and the hormones involved in regulating our sleep patterns.  It helps improve muscle mass and prevents the loss of bone density. 

Exercise participation is strongly correlated with reductions in stress, anxiety, and depression, and improvements in mood and the sense of well-being.   Exercise is linked with improvements in coordination and decreases in fall risk.  Improvements in cognition, focus, and memory are also linked with exercise participation.  There has been strong evidence demonstrating that unstable joints are improved with exercise and that exercise can reduce daily pain levels.

As you may or may not know, EDS is a connective tissue disorder.  As connective tissue is widespread throughout the body, EDS has wide-ranging effects.  Joints are less stable and have a higher incidence of injury and subluxation.  Balance (or proprioception) is reduced raising the incidence of falls.  Bone density can be effected.  Muscle strength is commonly lower in this population (which some researchers have connected with joint proprioception deficits and others with fear of movement).   Dysfunctional movement patterns are adopted with impaired coordination.  And many different types of pains are experienced.  

But is exercise beneficial for patients with joint hypermobility syndrome (JHS) and hEDS?  Research is suggesting yes for many reasons. Kemp looked at young patients over a six-week exercise course in one of two groups. One group had a generalized strength and conditioning program, and the other group had a more focused joint stabilization exercise program.  Both groups demonstrated decreases in pain levels and functional assessment (roughly 30% improvement!) but the focused group also demonstrated more parental perceived functional gains.  Studies by Sahin, Pacey, and Celenay all found similar responses with improvements in both function and comfort.  A systematic review (assessment of all the available literature that the authors can find) in 2014 also found evidence for the use of balance retraining based exercises.

There is also limited evidence that just like hEDS, classical EDS (cEDS) responds well to exercise.  Moller looked at three cEDS patients who were treated with “heavy” strength training 3 days per week.  Measurements of the patellar tendon demonstrated improved strength of the tendon connective tissues from 1795 N/mm to 2519N/mm (>70% increase in strength).  Energy levels and perceived strength were both improved in all subjects.  And even though these exercise routines were very intensive, pain levels did not increase at the end of the study for 2 of the 3 subjects and were actually lower in the third subject.  

In conclusion, the research is currently very supportive of exercise to improve function and comfort in the hEDS, JHS, and cEDS populations.  It appears that there are better results from emphasizing trunk stabilization and balance based exercises, but all types of exercise studied showed improvements.  It can be very helpful to be treated under the supervision of a physical therapist to oversee a controlled, graded progression of your program, as well as to address existing injuries with manual interventions as they interfere with your exercise program.  Clinical experience suggests that exercise is the key intervention to return freedom, function and comfort in your life.  Though connective tissue may be lax, muscle remains responsive to exercise and strength needs to be emphasized to compensate for ligamentous laxity.

Do or someone you know suffer from EDS? Do you suspect but are unsure? Considering coming to All Ways Well for an assessment from an experienced Physical Therapist. Email me questions or request an appointment online today.

​~Brian Kitzerow, DPT

  1.  Møller M, Kjaer M, Brüggebusch R, Jesper S, Andersen L, Peter S, Rie M.  Functional adaptation of tendon and skeletal muscle to resistance training in three patients with genetically verified classic Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.  Muscles, Ligaments and Tendons Journal. 2014;4(3):315-323.
  2. Pacey V, Tofts L, Adams R, Munns C, Nicholson L.  Exercise in children with joint hypermobility syndrome and knee pain: a randomised controlled trial comparing exercise into hypermobile versus neutral knee extension.  Pediatric rheumatology online journal. 2013;11(1):1-11.
  3. Smith T, Bacon H, Jerman E, Easton V, Armon K, Poland F, Macgregor A.  Physiotherapy and occupational therapy interventions for people with benign joint hypermobility syndrome: a systematic review of clinical trials. Disability and Rehabilitation. 2014;36(10):797-803.
  4. Kemp S, Roberts I, Gamble C, Wilkinson S, Davidson J, Baildam E, Cleary A, McCann L, Beresford M.  A randomized comparative trial of generalized vs targeted physiotherapy in the management of childhood hypermobility.  Rheumatology. 2010;49(2):315-325.
  5. Sahin N, Bakent A, Cakmak A, Salli A, Ugurlu H, Berker E.  Evaluation of knee proprioception and effects of proprioception exercise in patients with benign joint hypermobility syndrome.  Rheumatology International. 2008;28:996-1000.
  6. Celenay T, Keya D.  Effects of spinal stabilization exercises in women with benign joint hypermobility syndrome: a randomized controlled trial.  Rheumatology Internation.  2017;0:1-8.
Comments
    Book Now!

    RSS Feed

    Authors

    Rebecca M H Kitzerow is a Licensed Acupuncturist practicing in La Center, Washington. With over a decade of experience she has won 10 Nattie consumer choice awards from Natural Awakenings Magazine since 2014.

    Rebecca practices a variety of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine techniques including Tan Acupuncture, Kiiko style Japanese Acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Herbal Remedies, Cosmetic Acupuncture, Foot Reflexology, Cupping and Gua Sha. Rebecca strives to help people Be Well and Stay Well in every way.

    Archives

    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013

    Categories

    All
    Acupuncture
    Affordable Care Act/Obamacare
    All Ways Wellness
    All-ways-wellness
    All Ways Well News And Updates
    Antiaging
    Anti Aging
    Archive
    Arthritis
    Car Accident
    Chinese-herbs
    Chinese-herbs
    Diet And Nutrition
    Diet-and-nutrition
    Digestive
    Electro Acupuncture
    Facial-rejuvenation
    Fertility
    Find Your Well
    Find-your-well
    Foot-reflexology
    Goodell Pt
    Healthcare
    Healthy Living
    Healthy-living
    Heart Health
    Herbs
    Infertility
    Intermittent Fasting
    Japanese-acupuncture
    Menstrual Irregularity
    Motor Vehicle Accident Treatment
    Mthfr
    Mva
    Newsupdates06fb9f432f
    Pain
    Physical Therapy
    Postpartum Recovery
    Preventative Medicine
    Preventative-medicine
    Psoriasis
    Psoriatic Arthritis
    Seasonal
    Stress
    Wellness

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from Hey Paul Studios, BeGreen_Studio, Pawel Pacholec, 1950sUnlimited, toulupaliaqaz, Joelk75, OnTask, Robert Gourley, cnu_sports, Mitya Ku, FootMassagez, 401(K) 2013, Mariana Heinz, @EdwardTerry, fishhawk, liverpoolhls, torbakhopper, Boemski, dolomitibl, Driscolltheque, Dave n Laura, Vaping360, MVWorks, Life Mental Health, MVWorks, mikefats, Scot Nelson, jfl1066, wZa HK, ruurmo, Guadalupe Cervilla, Army Medicine, GViciano, torbakhopper, adrigu, Saulo Cruz, Ben Cumming, marniejoyce, kcxd, JasonCorey, kanenas.net, Live to Create Photography, gm.esthermax, Unique Hotels Group, Zenspa1, mysiana, Tobias Lindman, Leader Nancy Pelosi, Kristoffer Trolle, swanksalot, Bill Selak, Parker Knight, stimpsonjake, Gedankensprudler, SuperFantastic, tonynetone, marniejoyce, JeepersMedia, Illusive Photography, 'Ajnagraphy', Iban Torras, scotted400, gtall1, dvanzuijlekom, BPPrice, Skley, torbakhopper, Renato Ganoza, anka.albrecht, QUOI Media, Public Domain Photos, Instant Vantage, Victor Tongdee, Free Grunge Textures - www.freestock.ca, sportEX journals, Nadja Tatar, angela n., marniejoyce, MVWorks, Karolina Kabat, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, UofT, ginnerobot, tracilawson, haven't the slightest, My Photo Journeys, Pierre Willemin, Florena_Presse, SuperFantastic, colindunn, zzkt, TraumaAndDissociation, ER24 EMS (Pty) Ltd., marniejoyce, Tomás Fano, freestock.ca ♡ dare to share beauty, Archives New Zealand
  • Home
  • Book Now!
  • Blog
  • About
    • Covid19 Information for Patients
    • About Rebecca
    • Traditional Chinese Medicine - Ancient Methods for Modern Times
    • Testimonials
    • FAQ
    • Pricing
    • Medicare Chronic Low Back Pain Acupuncture Benefit at All Ways Well
  • Services
    • Acupuncture
    • Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture
    • Chinese Herbal Treatment
    • Virtual Fullscript Dispensary
    • DAO Labs - Order online!
    • Rasa Adaptogen Tea - order now!
    • Auto Accident Acupuncture
    • Gift Certificates
  • Resources For Patients
    • Food Allergies & Elimination Diets
    • Irritable Bowel Syndrome
    • Amazon Store
  • Contact