Columns

Here in Virginia, all nonessential businesses have been closed for several weeks. Frustratingly, I’m unable to access my two main therapies — massage and Pilates. Both of these activities are critical to my pain management, as massage helps to relax my tight muscles and Pilates remind my body…

Too often while pursuing answers to health questions, people with an Ehlers-Danlos syndrome are told that their physical symptoms must be caused by stress, or perhaps they’re psychosomatic, because no obvious explanations are available. I related my own frustration about this to my physical therapist several years ago while he…

Like everyone right now, my life and my therapies have been upended by the coronavirus. While it’s easy to get bogged down in all the stress and seemingly all-consuming fear (especially if you turn on the television), the forced downtime has some positives if we remember to look for…

In this time of uncertainty, stress and anxiety (a very common co-diagnosis with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome) management are critical to my self-care. Like virtually everyone else, my life has been a bit upended recently. But I’m trying to make the best of it that I can, while at the same…

It’s hard to believe that only a week has passed since I wrote my last column. Everything is so different that it feels like months ago, not days. In the interim, COVID-19 has turned everyone’s world here in the U.S.

One of the many unusual issues that come with having Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is the way that I can injure myself and not even know how I did it. That sounds baffling to most people, but for those with EDS, it’s not uncommon to find you have bruises you weren’t…

When I was new to the idea that I may have an Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, I was convinced that I needed a firm diagnosis before I could receive treatment and finally find some relief from problems that had plagued me for years. I believed I had to “name it before I…

As I’ve mentioned in previous columns my shoulder is probably the most damaged joint in my body. When I was about 15, I dislocated it, broke my collarbone, tore my trapezius muscle, and…

I love snow. It doesn’t snow very often where I live, but I sure enjoy when it does. We got about 5 inches of snow last Thursday. I work as a college counselor at a private high school, so I benefited from the decision to close school on Friday. A…

Presidents Day is a nice three-day weekend to have in the middle of winter and a good time to recharge. As much as I hate to admit it, the chronic fatigue from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) wears me down. The breaks I get working…