#joint instability

Because that’s just one of the dozen or so physical ailments I deal with on the daily.

And I carry on, calmly and quietly. Because I must.

But this is not something constant for them. So they’re distressed.

But it’s taken me too long to connect these dots and show the proper about of concern, because these are not things I complain about, because “concerning things” for other people are normal for me. So I look like a jerk. Because to me, these things are only distressing when they get worse than usual. Not the fact that they happen every day.

Sometimes it makes me feel very mean because I would like to complain and moan about how I feel on a given day, and I would sometimes like a little compassion. But I feel like this all the time. So complaining about it would never stop, once I began.

Sometimes I want to be very mean and say, “You are uncomfortable because you have this one symptom today? I have this symptom and ten other different ones every single day of my life, and you do not hear me whine about it! Do you want to play the Misery Olympics? Because I assure you that you’ll have a much harder time filling slots than I will. I have sympathy for your suffering, but you whine about it far too much for my tastes. I cannot bear any more of you and your grains of suffering against my many buckets.”

But then that is very mean and I would not want to have anyone say such hurtful things to me when I am unwell and want to whine.

“Your MRI looks normal”

For many women with EDS and hypermobility, this sentence is both confusing and invalidating.

Because the pain is real. The instability is real. The functional limitations are real.

So why does imaging often look normal?

Most imaging — X-rays, MRIs, CT scans — is designed to detect:

• Arthritis • Fractures • Large tears • Structural damage

But hypermobility pain usually isn’t caused by these issues.

The real driver is often ligament laxity.

Loose ligaments allow joints to move excessively. This creates micro-instability, muscle guarding, nerve irritation, and fatigue.

These subtle functional problems rarely show up on static imaging

Many providers rely heavily on imaging and spend less time on detailed physical exams. When imaging is normal, symptoms may be dismissed.

But instability is a clinical diagnosis — one made through history, movement assessment, and hands-on examination.

A normal MRI doesn’t mean nothing is wrong. It often means the problem is dynamic, not structural.

i can and always have moved my kneecaps around whenever i’m bored or just randomly, especially side to side.

So you mean to tell me that the KT tape I used to stableize my joints was actualy doing its job and stabilized my joints. And now that I took it off, my joints aren't stable anymore.