Joint hypermobility, which affects approximately 20 percent of the population, confers an unusually large range of motion. Hypermobile people can often, for instance, touch their thumb to their inner forearm or place their hands flat on the floor without bending their knees.

Is it bad to have double-jointed shoulders?

Swimmers and rowers also have a higher instance of hypermobility syndrome, since having double-jointed shoulders can be beneficial in terms of performance, but detrimental to the health of the joint in general. However, being double-jointed can also make you more prone to injury and issues like chronic joint pain.

How do you know if you are double-jointed?

Joint hypermobility tends to decrease with aging as we become naturally less flexible. Signs of the syndrome are the ability to place the palms of the hands on the floor with the knees fully extended, hyperextension of the knee or elbow beyond 10 degrees, and the ability to touch the thumb to the forearm.