Ehler's-Danlos Syndrome (EDS)

I've been passionate about Ehler's-Danlos Syndrome and Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders) (EDS/HSD) for some time. This subject has taught me to pay attention to the "spectrum" of mobility from one person to the next as muscles and connective tissues can have different compositions of proteins and in some cases be missing certain key proteins (leading to structural weakness or hypermobility in the skin, bones, and joints).
Now EDS is a rare disease so I'm not suggesting that "I see it everywhere" but when doing bodywork EDS and HSD meld together a little bit because my role is similar in either case. It's suggested that though some specific forms of EDS are extremely rare - generalized hypermobility is something that is quick to assess and fairly common. The other reason I see this frequently, I believe, is because these disorders are tightly correlated with psychiatric diagnoses, dysautonomia, and chronic pain (which if anyone knows what I geek out about, pain science and the autonomic nervous system make the top 5 on a given month).

There's a score called the Beighton score for assessing joint hypermobility: https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/assessing-joint-hypermobility/

A training for Allied Healthcare Professionals that goes over therapeutic management of the symptoms: https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/allied-health.../
Now you can start seeing this everywhere too!

If you made it through and don't see how this is critically important information in the health, fitness, and wellness industry I'll outline it:

1. We associate MOBILITY with fitness, health, and morality (just check instagram)

2. There's such a thing as hypermobility which means that some people have instability in there bodies that benefits MUCH more from strengthening and stabilization than stretching

3. People who are on the hypermobility spectrum typically FEEL (report subjectively) really tight in their hips and neck even though they are hypermobile (move beyond what is needed for functional activity) and seek out stretching and deep tissue massage at the expense of stability

4. These people (typically undiagnosed or assessed) do what society and culture tells them to do (yoga, stretching) to help with their pain and it gets worse

These points are to illustrate why this information matters for some people especially in adjacent industries.