Conditions we treat
Hypermobility and hEDS
For patients whose joint pain, injuries, dizziness, headaches, gut symptoms, and fatigue may share one root: connective tissue.
What it is
For some patients, the problem starts in the connective tissue itself, and from there it can reach the joints, the gut, blood vessels, and the nerves that control them.
Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) and hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSD) can affect nearly every system in the body. Because symptoms span multiple specialties, many patients spend years moving between providers without an explanation that connects the whole picture.
We diagnose hEDS using the 2017 diagnostic criteria from the International Consortium on the Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes. When symptoms suggest a different type of EDS, we refer for genetic testing. Then we build a practical plan to help you feel and function better day to day.
Common reasons patients come to us
- Joint pain and instability
- Frequent sprains, subluxations, or dislocations
- Migraine and headaches
- Dizziness and POTS
- Gut symptoms and fatigue
- Sensory sensitivities or neurodivergence
Your personal user’s manual
We can’t change connective tissue. But most people with hEDS or HSD don’t come to us because of the hypermobility itself. They come after something tipped the balance: an injury, an illness, a stressful stretch, or something else.
Our job is to unwind the clock: understand what happened, treat what changed, and rehabilitate you back to your best. We like to say we’re writing a personalized user’s manual for navigating hEDS, covering what helps, what to avoid, and what to do when things flare.
hEDS crosses specialties, and so do we. Many patients end up seeing a rheumatologist, a cardiologist, a GI doctor, a neurologist, and a therapist, each looking at one piece. Our team brings pain and headache medicine, psychiatry, and occupational therapy together, so we can see how the pieces connect, make an accurate diagnosis, and treat everything in one coordinated plan.
What our evaluation includes
Joints and injuries
A diagnostic evaluation using the 2017 international criteria, plus a careful look at hyperextension injuries, sprains, subluxations, and joint problems (arthropathies).
Pain and the nervous system
Whether pain has become louder and more widespread than the joints alone explain, and whether migraine or other headaches are part of the picture.
Heart rate, gut, and energy
Screening for POTS and dysautonomia, gut symptoms, and fatigue, which often travel with hypermobility.
Sensory needs and neurodivergence
Sensory sensitivities, autism, ADHD, and other neurodivergence, which are common with hEDS and shape how care works best.
How we treat it
Treatment starts with physical therapy and joint protection strategies that build stability without overloading loose joints. When a specific joint or muscle is the source of pain, we treat it directly, including with procedures.
From there, we treat the rest of the picture in the same plan: nervous system sensitization, migraine, POTS, gut symptoms, sleep, and mental health, with occupational therapy for pacing, sensory needs, and daily function. We coordinate with genetics and your other specialists as needed.
Often travels with
Ready to start?
Book online in a few minutes. No referral needed. We see children, teens, and young adults up to age 30 in Greenville, Charlotte, and by telehealth in SC and NC.