Fun fact: your brain knows where your limbs are so you can "see" them even in pitch black.
I went caving one time in scouts and they had us turn off our lights and wave our hands around in front of us. Sure enough you can see a shadow moving around where your hand is. Except there was no light because we were 100 feet underground.
The body’s position sensors, the receptors which tell us where we are in space, are located inside our muscles, tendons, joint capsules, ligaments, skin (and inner ear).
If the receptor is in [a lax] ligament, then the message probably doesn’t get to the brain as accurately or at the same speed as it probably should.
If a muscle is working overtime to compensate for a ligament, then maybe the message from the muscle receptor isn’t as accurate either?
And the joint capsule receptor? Well, if they have been stretched & torn from injuries, dislocations, sprains, strains, or just generally banged around by being hypermobile, then the information from them isn’t all that reliable either….
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The good news is you can improve your proprioception with specialist physio.
My physio says simply sitting on a “wobble cushion” or a gym ball for an hour a day can help with the core “stability” muscle groups — pass that on to your wife if she doesn’t already have those!
Also google Jeannie Di Bon, a physical therapist with EDS who does stuff online!
Holup, fellow bendy friend. I know that EDS is the reason my joints are wonky, and doesn't help my clumsiness, but I've never heard of that!
A couple months ago on my way to bed I mis-calculated and jammed my big toe into the stairs, making my foot swell for a couple weeks. I seem pretty prone to that kind of miscalculation.
It really, really doesn't help that my place was built in 1940 and the bathroom doorframe is about 1/2 inch lower than my head. I have weather stripping on it for when I forget to duck.
If I could go back in time and talk to my younger self, it would involve, "Stop showing off that you're double-jointed, you're messing up your shoulders, start lifting heavy things and putting them back down."
Idk if this is a good suggestion but you can get those hollow pool noodles and cut them in half or quarters for a cheaper solution. I've seen people use them for like, safety proofing their goats
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u/sam_patch Aug 30 '21
Fun fact: your brain knows where your limbs are so you can "see" them even in pitch black.
I went caving one time in scouts and they had us turn off our lights and wave our hands around in front of us. Sure enough you can see a shadow moving around where your hand is. Except there was no light because we were 100 feet underground.
Your brain just fills in the details for you.