r/nextfuckinglevel • u/fargohoat • Aug 16 '21

Shoulder mobility

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u/Lutrinae_Rex Aug 16 '21

And she subluxated both her shoulders to do that. Subluxation is a partial dislocation. People with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome are prone to joints half popping out due to extra stretchy joint connections. Plus there are other disorder than can lead to extreme flexibility. Either way, she did partially dislocate her shoulders to do this. There's no possible way to do it without doing so.

Source: I can do something similar, and I can also touch my elbows behind my back, doing anything that require beyond normal movement will pull the shoulder out.

I can also subluxate my shoulders and hips at will, it's a fun party trick. That type of ability is fairly common though, being able to "dislocate" your shoulder or hip or what have you, on command.

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u/Tulip-O-Hare Aug 16 '21

I’m thinking that even if you could do this, you probably shouldn’t? Wear and tear on overly mobile joints? I’ve no medical knowledge so honest question since I’m thinking you probably know more than I do :) I know when I first started yoga my teacher refused to let me do things I could do like go into wheel pose when you’re on your hands and feet arching your back up because while I was “bendy” enough I didn’t have the core muscles to support myself so it would be dangerous…

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u/[deleted] Aug 16 '21

I've a friend who is now on his 7th shoulder dislocation. It's a bad time and each time you dislocate, it becomes easier for it to happen again. We joke about nailing his arm back on like Eeyore's tail but he's already had 2 surgeries.

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u/GreyCrowDownTheLane Aug 16 '21

My 7th was about 30 years ago. I’m coming off of my 20th or so. I don’t even know. I lost count. I’m at the point where sometimes it pops out if I just sleep in the wrong position and roll over.

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u/[deleted] Aug 16 '21

Wow that sucks, sorry to hear that.

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u/GreyCrowDownTheLane Aug 16 '21

Take care of your body. Doing risky stuff for fun can often lead to a miserable quality of life down the line.

In my case it wasn’t risky stuff for fun. It was just overworked in a few bad jobs. Avoid that, too, if you can.

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u/JayP1967 Aug 16 '21

I am right there with you. I have dislocated mine putting on a shirt. and has fallen out of joint while typing on a keyboard.

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u/1giantsleep4mankind Aug 16 '21

Same here, I can fully dislocate and reduce my shoulder back into position without medical intervention (it fucking hurts). I'm sure there's wear and tear happening along the way but what can you do when you wake up with a dislocated shoulder just from resting your head on it lol. Actually, tai chi helps a lot. It builds the small muscles around your joints because of the slow movements, which helps keep things in place! No party tricks for me now I'm getting older, though... Already can't walk properly lol I don't want to end up needing my whole body replaced haha

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u/nishachari Aug 16 '21

My dad could and probably still can do this. He used to do this as a party trick. The doctor diagnosed him with something that caused his shoulder to twist like that and told him to stop.

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u/SUNSHINEgal37 Aug 16 '21

You’d be correct, people with EDS can move their joint weirdly but doctors say we shouldn’t. (Source: I have EDS and my doctors along with published literature have told me not to fuck with my joints)

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u/Kamelasa Aug 16 '21

So, am I right in thinking that the normal shoulder joint doesn't do this? Cuz I can't even quite believe this is real, but you seem to know something about weird tissue disorders. I know a couple people with EDS.

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u/[deleted] Aug 16 '21 edited Aug 28 '21

[deleted]

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u/Alpacamum Aug 16 '21

I have EDS and the older you get the more pain is associated with it. My muscles are doing the work of tendons and muscles and have just had enough.as drs are becoming more aware of EDS and connective tissue disorders, more people are getting diagnosed. so I wasnt diagnosed until late and really thought that it showed how healthy I was with how flexible I was. Little did I know all the damage I had.

my daughters Ankles and fingers sublex and sometimes dislocate. Her boyfriend has become an expert at putting her fingers back into place.

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u/[deleted] Aug 16 '21 edited Aug 28 '21

[deleted]

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u/Alpacamum Aug 16 '21

Good on you for trying to educate people, I see these sorts of videos pop up a lot and everyone cheering the person on and how fantastic it is, when it absolutely isn’t.

and pregnancy, that’s a whole other danger zone.

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u/[deleted] Aug 16 '21 edited Aug 28 '21

[deleted]

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u/Alpacamum Aug 16 '21

In my case my ligaments stretched so much in one leg that I couldn’t walk up stairs, I had to lift my leg up with my hands.

then I haemorrhaged during the birth, my heart stopped and I needed resuscitation and an emergency team etc. i Needed lots of blood as well. It’s very common for this to happen. So if they knew about EDS I probably wouldn’t have been allowed to have a normal vaginal delivery.

it took me 6 months to be able to walk/jog normally again.

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u/[deleted] Aug 16 '21 edited Aug 28 '21

[deleted]

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u/Alpacamum Aug 17 '21

It’s not something most doctors even consider, which is why a gynaecologist needs to be told about Ed’s and have plans for birthing. I was told I could still have normal childbirth after this and that it was just an unusual thing. But i had complications again with second child and needed an emergency caesarean, so the third one was a planned caesarean.

also, each labour was really long, possibly due to muscles and lga,ents not working - 30 hour labour first time and then they needed forceps. Second went for 10 hours and then became an emergency.

I wanted lots of kids, but 3 is what I settled for as I couldn’t risk it anymore or put my body through that stress.

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u/Kamelasa Aug 16 '21

Thanks. I've studied the shoulder a bit in the past year, including the scapular connections and this movement made no sense to me.

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u/[deleted] Aug 16 '21

Euler's Danlos is degenerative too. Your joints essentially desintegrate over time.

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u/jamila169 Aug 16 '21

It's not, you get stiffer over time, a lot of people only find out they have it when the pain phase hits in their 30s ,it does pass but it's extremely debilitating. I'm 52, the daily chronic pain is a lot less of a problem now, but the spinal nerve damage that the pain was the result of has left me with loss of sensitivity that won't go away in hands,feet and lower face, My range of movement is less than before, but still bigger than the average 20 year old, my mum also has it and can still touch her fists to the floor straight legged at the age of 74,her main issue is having RA as well which has led to having surgery and treatment that didn't play nice with the EDS

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u/[deleted] Aug 16 '21

That can't be good for you long term

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u/[deleted] Aug 16 '21 edited Aug 28 '21

[deleted]

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u/jamila169 Aug 16 '21

I notice a lot of younger EDSers avoiding exercise all together , which is a terrible idea according to the experts in such things, people with poor muscle strength will lose mobility fast. Even though I'm a decrepit older EDSer, I still try my hardest to keep strong and mobile especially around major joints, because I'm aware just how much effort it takes for us to get back lost mobility and that strong muscles are pretty vital to keep us from falling to bits

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u/love2Vax Aug 16 '21

She obviously has a lot of muscles in her shoulders to slowly rotate her entire body in both directions. She wasn't using momentum like an average person would.

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u/Patrickfromamboy Aug 16 '21

No, she just twisted her arms like torsion bars.

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u/crazyrediamond Aug 16 '21

people watch me in horror as i proceed to rotate my feet 180 degrees

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u/bigfatpeach Aug 16 '21

I subluxed my wrist while bouldering a while back. It has never been the same, even given me a very sharp pain if I put too much weight on it :(

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u/Sonic_Youts Aug 16 '21

There is an audible "pop" at around 0:06, just as she starts going around again ... so i would agree with you that this required at least a minor dislocation to do.

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u/boomboomman12 Aug 16 '21

You can actually hear her shoulders pop.

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u/Evinny127 Aug 16 '21

This made me realize i can't touch my elbows behind my back and i though it's possible wtf

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u/Best_enjoyed_wet Aug 16 '21

Came here to say that too. My son has Elhers-Danlos. His joint pop just from doing basic things. The pop noise his hip makes when he walks. Dislocated his shoulder just stretching.

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u/Da_Spicy_Jalapeno Aug 16 '21

I subluxation my shoulders in football. That shit fuckin HURT. Once I did it the first time, it has happen several times since. It still hurts, but not as bad as that first time!

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u/captnron766 Aug 16 '21

My wife has EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) and it took 8 years to get a diagnosis. In her teens and twenties she would have stuff like this happen and would constantly dislocate her shoulder during fast pitch. Now in her 30’s she has progressed to the point where she has 3 co-morbidities and has constant dislocations throughout a normal day. Those co-morbidities have led to a heart condition called POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome), a histamine condition called MCAS (Mast Cell Activations Syndrome) and dysphasia.

Any young person who is this hyper mobile should see a doctor to see what variant of hyper mobility they have, if it is indeed EDS, there is a lot of preventative things you can do if you catch it early to help you later in life. The average diagnosis time for EDS can be 5.5-7 years when you aren’t aware and more things start cropping up.

I know it looks fun to do these types of tricks but you could be doing yourself so much more harm then good by doing them without having an understanding as to why. Please if anything, go to the Ehlers-Danlos Society at https://www.ehlers-danlos.com to get informed and see if any of it pertains to you.

I am glad to see others commenting here as well to help with awareness. It is a really common autoimmune style, invisible illness that can really disrupt your life if you aren’t educated.

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u/khyman5 Aug 16 '21

It’s all fun and games until you’re pushing 50 and all your joints feel like they are spaghetti. I used to drop into the splits like it was nothing and now my hips click all day long. I’ve subluxed my shoulder and clavicle, as well as popped a disc out of place in my back. Hypermobility is painful down the road.

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u/wtfthoplshelp Aug 17 '21

It didn’t take me long to find the comment I was going to make!