A few data points:

[conuly]

1. When I was a child, my knee used to lock up sometimes if I had my leg bent. I couldn't open it, and it felt like it had slid out of joint. I still get twitchy if I have to crouch down for more than a few seconds. The last such incident probably occurred in my 20s.

2. I've always had weak ankles, prone to twisting.

3. A few years ago I sat down in the Bronx Zoo and when I stood up again I popped my hip, causing periodic recurring pain and aches - notably this week, where even sitting still on the bus was too much.

4. My sister used to be able to clasp her hands behind her back and bring them above her head to her front without letting go.

5. Yesterday I witnessed my mother casually bringing her foot up to her face to demonstrate that she could. She does that periodically, and at this point I suddenly put together points 1 - 4 and realized - THIS IS ALL HER FAULT! She's got some sort of freaky hypermobility genes, and she passed them on to us, and she and Jenn got the fun parts* while all I got were the twisted ankles and the hip pain! That's utterly unfair, and I told her so right then and there, too. I got completely cheated somewhere.

Edit: I'd forgotten, but well into my teens I used to enjoy sitting with my legs in a W because it was fun, and likewise I can still catch my foot in my hand behind my back while leaning over. (Though not right now, because my hip is owie.)

* Jenn's flexibility isn't all fun and games, but I'm fairly certain that our mother hasn't suffered one day over this. She doesn't even appear to have any arthritis, and I know that runs in her family.

Comments

[steorra]

I don't think I have any hypermobility, but I do have one neat body trick that I can do that most people can't.

Curl fingers so that fingertips are against the fold where the fingers meet the palm. Maintain baby finger in that position, unfold the others to straight, no touching with the other hand.

I can do it better with my left hand than with my right but I can do it reasonably well with both hands.

I discovered this when I was in my teens and can still do it.

[conuly]

Nifty!

[marahmarie]

Just tried it: my pinky (baby) fingers are the only ones that can do it (with other fingers curled or straight). I wonder if I ever could do it with all eight. I can't tell because my arthritis is just bad enough they can't bend that far (there's some visible swelling stopping it, not to mention a bit of pain, though they weren't hurting before I tried that).

[steorra]

Most people's difficulty isn't getting the 4 fingers on a hand down into the position in question, it's leaving the baby finger down there while the others straighten out.

[marahmarie]

Yeah, I did the last part with no problem (except none but the pinkies will tuck right into the fold because of swelling) but now that you've said that, I can't straighten the rest and leave the pinkies folded at all - the others want to follow (though my pinkies are staying put). Must be the power of suggestion.