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The masseuse who pulled my arm out

record updated
item type
article on a website
author
Angela Clarke
link
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/disability-40886997
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journal
BBC
year
2017
month
Aug 18

PainSci notes

Funny, poignant tale of a patient with Ehlers–Danlos syndrome who was injured by a massage therapist. Great illustrations, too! Here’s an excerpt about her medical history:

It’s genetic. I got it from my mum. Worst birthday present ever. While some people with EDS have no complications, other than being super-flexible, I get chronic pain, frequent dislocations, and mobility issues. Mum, on the other hand, got straight into advanced yoga. There were no signs when I was a kid, except I could put my feet over my head and dislocate my little finger and then pop it back in. In my 20s things started to go awry. First my feet hurt, then my knees, then my ankles stopped working, then my legs. Huge bruises would appear from nowhere and I wouldn’t be able to walk without clutching onto the nearest person or wall. This went on for six years. First they thought it was arthritis, then they thought it was multiple sclerosis, then lupus, then arthritis again, then fibromyalgia. When they ran out of things to test for, they figured there was only one thing left - hypochondria. They treated me like a Victorian lady with a case of the vapours.

~ Paul Ingraham, PainSci Publisher

Related Content

These three articles on PainScience.com cite this item as a source:

  1. Does Massage Therapy Work?
  2. The Complete Guide to Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain
  3. Hypermobility and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome

PainSci Member Login » Submit your email to unlock member content. If you can’t remember/access your registration email, please contact me. ~ Paul Ingraham, PainSci Publisher