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Hypermobility Unit

Welcome to the Hypermobility Unit in London, one of the leading providers of hypermobility services in the UK.
Our specialist physiotherapists are here to help you manage your hypermobility, and optimise your health and wellbeing.

Our Service

Our specialist hypermobility team are here to understand exactly how hypermobility affects you, and work with you to create a personalised treatment plan to help manage your condition, and optimise your overall health and wellbeing.

Our Expertise

Our Hypermobility Unit is staffed by specialist physiotherapists with extensive experience and knowledge of:

  • Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders (HSD)
  • Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (hEDS)
  • Related symptoms and conditions

Meet the Team

hypermobility team
child with hypermobility

For All Your Needs

Conditions we can help with include:

  • Joint instability
  • Chronic pain and fatigue
  • Pain and loss of function
  • Developmental coordination disorder
  • Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS)
  • Headache
  • Bladder dysfunction

How Physiotherapy Helps Treat Hypermobility

Physiotherapy can be used to help those with hypermobile joints to:

  • Reduce pain
  • Improve muscle function to improve joint support
  • Improve control of movement
  • Improve functional capacity and exercise tolerance
  • Improve understanding of the condition
  • Increase confidence
  • Develop self-management strategies
Reduced muscle function can lead to joint pain and pain can affect muscle function. Physiotherapy can help improve function by improving muscle function and joint control.
 
Pain can lead to reduced tolerance of functional activities. Physiotherapy can help improve function by gradually increasing your body’s tolerance of the normal stresses and strains experienced in normal function. The body has great potential to adapt to increasing demands if the increases in demands are managed appropriately. 
Pain as an experience is complex. It is often a manifestation of different factors and is not necessarily just about tissue injury, pathology or damage. Other factors, such as mood/mental health, stress and anxiety, general fitness/physical condition and quality of sleep are known to have links to pain. It’s not just about how much your joints move! Physiotherapy can help you understand the complex multifactorial experience of pain and the complex inter-relationship of these factors on an individual basis. Everyone’s experience of pain is different.
 
Some, but not all people with hypermobility-related conditions can have problems other than pain such as issues with their immune system, gastrointestinal and autonomic systems and these issues need to be considered as part of a holistic approach.
 
People who suffer from pain and disability often lose confidence in their body and their ability to control their problems. This can lead to people reducing their activity levels which can further perpetuate the cycle. Physiotherapy can help restore confidence in your body and control your symptoms to help rebuild your function.

Our Unique Network Of Hypermobility Specialists

Hypermobility patients vary hugely in the severity of their symptoms and some may require the involvement of consultants and therapists from more than one speciality.

We have developed an extensive support network of trusted, specialist medical and therapy clinics around London. This enables us to provide a unique, joined-up personal treatment plan, in collaboration with our specialist partners, to give you the best possible outcome.

Physiotherapy is an integral part of the multidisciplinary management of HSD and hEDS across the lifespan.

Depending on your individual needs the therapist will work alongside medical consultants, general practitioners, podiatrists, health psychologists, occupational and therapists, women’s health physiotherapists, occupational health, schools, teachers, PE teachers, sports coaches, dance teachers, NHS teams and other health care providers to deliver the best possible care.

What Does Hypermobility Treatment Involve?

1 Initial Assessment

First you'll meet one of our specialist physiotherapists for a thorough assessment. This will allow you to get to know each other and enable us to fully understand your needs.

2 Personlised Plan

Your physiotherapist will work with you to develop an individualised, holistic, goal-oriented treatment plan. This will provide both short and long term treatment plan.

3 We'll Work Together

We'll work through your plan together. This will include education about the condition, lifestyle advice and how to manage symptoms such as chronic pain and fatigue.

4 Additional Interventions

Depending on your needs, we may also provide ergonomic advice, posture and gait re-education, manual therapy, hydrotherapy, taping, electrotherapy, acupuncture and exercise therapy.

5 Duration

The initial consultation takes around 90 minutes in total. This is a face-to-face session at one of our Central London clinics.

Please allow up to an hour and a half for your first appointment, although this may include report writing by the physiotherapist.

The examination will include gathering information about your symptoms (attained from your specific history), followed by a detailed physical examination to identify how your symptoms are affecting you day to day.

The assessment will conclude with a discussion on the treatment planned and there will be time to answer any questions you may have.

You may be asked to undress as part of the assessment so it may be worth bringing shorts/vest top.

If required a report can written detailing the proposed treatment plan and this can sent to your consultant, with a copy for you. There will be an additional charge for thsi service. Please discuss this with your physiotherapist at your session if it’s something you would like.

Treatment will be carried out at our clinic by a member of the hypermobility team.

As people often come from some distance it may be more convenient to have treatment closer to home. In these cases the report detailing the recommended treatment will be sent to you and your GP to be passed to the relevant physiotherapist.

Treatment sessions take between 30 to 60 minutes and will be carried out on a one-to-one basis by one of the specialist hypermobility physiotherapists.

If you are covered by insurance you may need to check whether they have limitations on the amount of physiotherapy you are entitled to.

Treatment is specific to the individual and based on the presentation and history. It is frequently multi-faceted and may include some or all of the following:

  • Manual therapy including massage
  • Manual joint mobilisation
  • Muscle release/soft tissue mobilization
  • Electrotherapy
  • Postural re-education
  • Specific corrective exercise to improve mobility, muscle performance (strength), balance, proprioception and fitness.
  • Muscle re-education
  • Core muscle strengthening
  • Hydrotherapy (off-site)

Advice and problem-solving is also included in your treatment programme.

We have a dedicated women’s health physiotherapy team for any incontinence, pelvic floor or pregnancy related issues with specialist skills in the following:

  • Pelvic floor function
  • Post gynaecological surgery or childbirth
  • Bladder retraining and fluid management

For the assessment and supply of foot orthoses (insoles).

This assessment is currently undertaken by the team at the Gait Laboratory off-site although plans are afoot to transfer them to the Hospital of St. John and St. Elizabeth in the near future.

Flat feet, where the inner part of the feet (the arches) are flattened, are frequently associated with hypermobility. This is due to the foot arches elongating under the body’s weight due to the ligaments on the bottom of your feet being more flexible and foot muscles being weaker.

Correcting your foot biomechanics by wearing insoles, assessed and supplied by our podiatrist, may reduce knee and ankle pain, in conjunction with strengthening exercises.

Shoulder problems are particulary common in hypermobile patients as the shoulder is naturally mobile.

Keeping the large ball of the arm bone centred on the small socket is a challenge to the muscular control and abnormal muscle patterning is common. However, strengthening muscles around the shoulder can help improve the control of the joint and improve symptoms in hypermobile patients.

Why Choose Us For Hypermobility?

Unrivalled Expertise

We are one of the leading providers of hypermobility services in the UK, with years of experience and expertise.

Access Our Network Of Specialists

We have built an extensive support network of trusted specialist medical and therapy clinics around London.

Personalised For You

We provide a joined-up personal treatment plan, together with our specialist partners, to give you the best possible outcome.

5 Star Treatment!

We have built an unrivalled reputation with our patients for delivering the 'gold standard' in hypermobility care.

What Our Patients Say

★★★★★ As others have mentioned, I also have to travel a bit for my appointments here but the level of expertise and help is 5 stars. Ann is a great physio with expertise on EDS / hypermobility.I can confidently say that she has been able to understand my issues and provided advice in a really specific way. It is reassuring she always keeps track of my notes and sends further email communications with them.If you struggle with EDS this is for sure the place.Jessica MJessica M ★★★★★ I have been seeing Tatjana for chronic pain in my neck, upper back and shoulders since moving to the area 3 months ago. I have hypermobility spectrum disorder and fibromyalgia, so it's really important for me to find a good therapist who can listen and adapt to my specific needs. I feel really comfortable and supported by Tatjana's approach: she is patient, encouraging, and she takes so much pride in her work. In our appointments she used a mixture of myofascial release, soft tissue massage, warm bamboo massage, and sports massage. Tatjana will adapt these to find exactly works for you, which is so important especially if you have hypermobility and/or fibro, because what works for one person might not work for you! I can't recommend going enough.Megan L.Megan L. ★★★★★ After having my first sports massage session with Tatjana for my hypermobility issues, I immediately bought the package for 6 more! She was able to massively increase the movement in my hips through a combination of the following techniques:1) Myofascial release massage2) Sports Massage Therapist3) Soft tissue massage4) Warm Bamboo MassageFurthermore, Tatjana is extremely attentive and kind and ensures the whole way through that the pressure and techniques are comfortable, so you always feel in safe hands.She also kindly explains what she is doing throughout and what the effects of it are, which is so useful as it’s made me more aware of what I may be doing in my daily life that contributes to the issues/pain in the first place.I can’t recommend her enough and feel very lucky to have found her!Holly B.Holly B. ★★★★★ I have been attending CHP Physiotherapy for a number of months now, and there are no words to express how grateful I am. I would highly recommend them.The physiotherapist working with me is highly professional, kind and exceptionally knowledgeable. And the staff are so very friendly.If you have a condition related to hypermobility or any other condition that requires physiotherapy I know that they will be able to make you a personalised physiotherapy plan as they have for myself.Not only do the help you with coming up with a personalised physiotherapy plan, but they also provided an app that has videos that explain the exercises and provide hand-outs that explain your condition with general advice regarding how to specifically manage your condition.Again I could not recommend them highly enough and can't express in words just how grateful I am for their care and help.Charlotte S.Charlotte S. ★★★★★ I see Katrina as part of the Hypermobility unit and she is fantastic. If you have joint hypermobility or EDS I couldn't recommend them more. All the staff are brilliant including the booking team, and the online booking service is also very convenient.Emma A.Emma A. ★★★★★ I have been recently diagnosed with hypermobility and referred to Catherine at Central Health. She is in a word brilliant! So warm and supportive and most importantly knowledgeable about my condition. I can now exercise without being in excruciating pain and I’m starting to feel stronger and more in control of my body. I’m confident that with Catherine’s help and guidance progress will continue and I cannot thank her enough for everything she’s done so far.M PM P ★★★★★ I cannot recommend the Chelsea clinic highly enough. I have received excellent treatment from both Catherine Nutt initially and then Jane Attard. Over the last year, my continued treatment with Jane and her exceptional care and hypermobility expertise has turned my life around in a way I couldn't have imagined. No one wants to have to see a physio, but Jane and the Chelsea team have made it the best that it can be.Thank you to Jane and all the staff at the Chelsea clinic from the bottom of my heart.Grace M.Grace M.js_loader

Contact Us

Call us to discuss your needs with our friendly team and book your appointment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, our hypermobility service is here to help people of all ages.

Referral from a GP is not required. It is, however, helpful to have access to your medical history from your GP. If you have private medical insurance your insurer will usually request a GP referral.

No, private medical insurance isn’t necessary. Patients can also self pay.

Pricing for self paying patients can be found on our prices page.

The Hypermobility Unit offers routine appointments on a daily basis, Monday to Friday between 8am and 7pm.  Appointments can be made for Saturday mornings, subject to availability.

We have limited parking spaces available at our Chelsea and St John’s Wood clinics. However, there is on-street meter parking nearby at all of our clinics.

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