Bend the fingers: Ehlers Danlos syndrome and the associated disorders that impact treatment of chronic musculoskeletal pain

Abstract

Ehlers Danlos and related hypermobility syndromes underly chronic, recurrent, and multiple-site pain in a small number of persons. By making the diagnosis, clinicians can better guide the treatment of the presenting problem. The diagnosis can help a patient make sense of their recurrent challenges as well. By inquiring about numerous associated conditions, ranging from postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome to autism spectrum and attention deficit issues, the clinician may help the patient deal with other challenges. Detection can be easy-primarily observation of flexibility in the thumb, finger, elbow, and knee. The diagnosis is missed commonly, so we recommend clinicians take 1 month to perform these maneuvers on all chronic pain patients as one way of ensuring that clinicians have awareness.