Recovery times

[MSJT]

Hi all, I was just wondering if people with hypermobility tend to take longer to heal from a broken bone. I've recently dislocated and broken my shoulder coming off a bike and want to know what to expect. Thanks

[cyberbarn]

It will depend on what is causing the hypermobility. There are many things that can cause hypermobility. For instance people with Downs syndrome are often hypermobile. People can be hypermobile due to hypotonia, and sometimes people who are hypermobile have a collagen related disorder. But there are many different types of collagen. In some rarer forms of EDS there is lower bone density. But generally bones are okay, it is tissue wound healing that is the problem.

I three lots of surgery on the bones in my feet. They had to use different stitching materials and techniques because on the first one the wound healing delays made a mess of things. however, on the last surgery they had to get the screws out from the first surgery which had been done three years previous. And they couldn't get them out! The bone had healed so well that they struggled to get the screws out so that they could do the surgery.

So it will really depend on the reasons why you are hypermobile.

[B3ndy]

I would say an emphatic yes to problems healing after bone fracture. If you have any type of connective tissue disorder your bone itself may heal ok but everything surrounding it won't. So all the ligaments, tendons, muscle fascia will take longer to heal fully. And if you had to have surgery on a broken bone it take even longer for all the soft tissue to heal. I had a 'pilon' fracture to my tibia (apparently common injury type to skydivers and rock climbers) and a badly broken fibula after I accidentally mistepped down the stairs and landed full force on my right foot. It was 6 months before I could weight bear on it and it was still swollen and painful 5 years later. I had further surgery in March this year to remove some pins through the tibia and that has helped.