"I Think I Might Have hEDS": What to Know, What to Do, and How We Can Help at Well Co Chiropractic in Sarasota
If you've landed on this page, there's a good chance you've spent a significant amount of time searching for answers. Maybe you've always been "flexible," dealt with frequent sprains, woken up exhausted no matter how much you sleep, or been told your pain doesn't make sense on imaging. Maybe you've seen multiple providers who couldn't connect the dots. And maybe, somewhere along the way, you came across the term hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, or hEDS, and something clicked.
You're not imagining it. And you're not alone.
What Is hEDS and How Is It Different From HSD?
Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is a heritable connective tissue disorder that affects collagen, the structural protein found in joints, skin, tendons, ligaments, and virtually every system in the body. Because collagen is everywhere, hEDS is a systemic condition, meaning it doesn't just affect your joints.
Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (HSD) sits in the same family. People with HSD are hypermobile, experience health problems related to that hypermobility, but don't fully meet the stricter diagnostic criteria for hEDS. Importantly, HSD is not a milder version of hEDS. The two conditions can present with similar severity and affect multiple body systems in the same way. From a treatment standpoint, they are managed identically.
Both conditions are far more common than most people realize, estimated to affect 1 to 2 percent of the population, and both remain chronically under-diagnosed, particularly in people who have learned to adapt around their symptoms for years.
What It Actually Feels Like
The symptom picture for hEDS and HSD is wide, which is part of why it takes so long to get a diagnosis. People often present with a combination of:
Joint pain, frequent sprains, subluxations, or a feeling of joints "giving way." Chronic fatigue that doesn't improve with rest. Digestive issues including bloating, reflux, or irritable bowel. Racing heart, lightheadedness on standing, or a diagnosis of POTS. Anxiety, brain fog, or difficulty concentrating. Skin that bruises easily or scars unusually. Pain that moves around, flares without obvious cause, and doesn't respond predictably to standard treatment.
The musculoskeletal piece is often what brings people through our door. Chronic joint pain, tendinopathies that keep recurring, muscle spasm that never fully resolves, and a body that seems to injure more easily than it should. These are hallmark presentations of hypermobile connective tissue, and they respond differently to treatment than the same symptoms in a person without underlying hypermobility.
Getting a Diagnosis:
That's Not Our Lane, But Here's What You Should Know
I want to be straightforward about something. Diagnosing hEDS or HSD is not within the scope of what we do at Well Co. A formal diagnosis requires a knowledgeable physician, often a geneticist, rheumatologist, or an internist familiar with connective tissue disorders, who can apply the full 2017 diagnostic criteria.
Reference Hypermobility Chiro Podcast with Dr. Atwal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZs7rBm-o10&t=94s
If you suspect you have hEDS or HSD, pursuing that diagnosis matters. It opens doors to appropriate specialist referrals, gives other providers crucial context, and helps you understand your body as a whole system rather than a collection of unrelated complaints.
The Beighton Score is one tool used in the diagnostic process. It measures hypermobility across nine joint sites, including the ability to place your palms flat on the floor without bending your knees, bend your pinky finger back beyond 90 degrees, and hyperextend your elbows or knees. A score above a certain threshold, adjusted for age and sex, supports a hypermobility diagnosis. But the Beighton Score alone is not a diagnosis, and hypermobility without symptoms is not hEDS or HSD. The full picture matters.
The Ehlers-Danlos Society at ehlers-danlos.com is the best starting point for understanding the diagnostic criteria and finding knowledgeable providers.
Where We Come In
This is where Well Co fits into your care team.
I have personal experience with connective tissue disorders, both in my own body and in my family. I understand this population not just clinically but from the inside and continuously seek continuing education through the EDS Society’s ECHO program. That shapes how I approach treatment, how I listen, and what I prioritize in the room.
At Well Co, I specialize in soft tissue work and rehabilitation, and that is exactly where hypermobile patients need skilled, informed hands. Here's what that looks like in practice.
Active Release Technique (ART) addresses the muscular and fascial restrictions that build up around unstable hypermobile joints. When joints are lax, the surrounding muscles often compensate by chronically overworking and tightening. ART releases those restrictions precisely, restoring tissue mobility without overstressing already vulnerable structures.
Graston Technique uses instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization to address fibrotic tissue, adhesions, and areas of poor collagen organization, common in hypermobile tissue that has been repeatedly strained and imperfectly repaired over time.
StemWave Shockwave delivers acoustic sound waves to targeted tissue, stimulating cellular repair, promoting blood flow, and reducing chronic inflammation. For hypermobile patients dealing with recurring tendinopathies, fascial pain, or tissue that simply won't heal, StemWave addresses the biological environment driving that pattern.
Targeted rehabilitation is woven through everything we do. For hypermobile patients, strengthening and motor control work is not optional, it is the foundation. Hypermobile joints rely on muscle activation and neuromuscular coordination to compensate for what the connective tissue cannot provide. We build that systematically, starting with proprioception and stability before loading.
One thing worth knowing: treatment for hypermobile tissue requires a different approach. Aggressive stretching, high-load progression, and standard manipulation protocols are not appropriate for this population. We work carefully, with a "start low, go slow" philosophy, respecting that hypermobile tissue strengthens slowly and is more vulnerable to being pushed too hard too fast.
What We Don't Replace
Well Co is one part of a care team, not the whole team. Patients with hEDS or HSD often benefit from working alongside a knowledgeable physician for systemic management, a pelvic floor physical therapist if pelvic symptoms are present, a cardiologist or autonomic specialist if POTS is in the picture, and sometimes a gastroenterologist, psychologist, or occupational therapist depending on the full symptom picture.
We're happy to work collaboratively and communicate with your other providers. That kind of coordinated care is what this population actually needs.
If This Sounds Like You
If you're in Sarasota and you've been managing unexplained joint pain, recurring soft tissue injuries, or a body that just doesn't recover the way it should, come in for an assessment. You don't need a formal hEDS diagnosis to benefit from soft tissue care and targeted rehab. You just need a provider who understands what they're working with.
Well Co Chiropractic is located at 3982 Bee Ridge Road in Sarasota. We take this seriously because we know how much it matters to finally be in a room with someone who gets it.
