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FYI if you you have chronic pain and it gets MUCH worst before your period, I *see* you today.
DYK THERE'S A HORMONE CALLED RELAXIN THAT LITERALLY RELAXES ALL YOUR CONNECTIVE TISSUE AND THAT IT INCREASES AFTER OVULATION????
Cause I sure didn't until, like, 3 years ago.
DYK THERE'S A HORMONE CALLED RELAXIN THAT LITERALLY RELAXES ALL YOUR CONNECTIVE TISSUE AND THAT IT INCREASES AFTER OVULATION????
Cause I sure didn't until, like, 3 years ago.
I have chronic pain related to hyper-mobility that's probably* related to a connective tissue disorder.
My joints are lax and my muscles contract painfully around them to compensate for the laxness.
*Probably because chronic pain is, like, SO underdiagnosed.
My joints are lax and my muscles contract painfully around them to compensate for the laxness.
*Probably because chronic pain is, like, SO underdiagnosed.
Right around my period, usually 5-7 days before, all my joints hurt SO FUCKING MUCH.
Like, everything ramps up to 11. Right now, my shoulders, my wrists, and my left thumb are throbbing so fucking bad.
Like, everything ramps up to 11. Right now, my shoulders, my wrists, and my left thumb are throbbing so fucking bad.
A few years ago, I found out about the hormone Relaxin. It helps folks' uteruses, cervixes, and other muscles relax so that they're not, you know, DESTROYED by pregnancy and child birth.
And I heard that pregnancy can be hell on folks with hypermobility-related pain.
And I heard that pregnancy can be hell on folks with hypermobility-related pain.
Of course, Relaxin can't exactly target *which* muscles and connective tissue to relax. It's just trying to help! It wants to relax ALL THE THINGS!!!!!
Relaxin production also ramps up right after ovulation. Stands to reason: helps get the uterus ready if there's insemination and implantation, and also probably helps get the cervix ready to pass all the uterine lining that might be headed out soon.
Relaxin seems to be largely present in people who have ovaries.
ALTHOUGH I AM NOT A DOCTOR AND PLEAS DO NOT TAKE THIS THREAD AS ANY MEDICAL ADVICE AT ALL I MEAN WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT ANYWAY????
ALTHOUGH I AM NOT A DOCTOR AND PLEAS DO NOT TAKE THIS THREAD AS ANY MEDICAL ADVICE AT ALL I MEAN WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT ANYWAY????
Ok, so, does this lead to pain?
WELLLLLLLL
The jury seems to still be out.
(Weird, right? So weird that something impacting people with ovaries would be understudied.)
WELLLLLLLL
The jury seems to still be out.
(Weird, right? So weird that something impacting people with ovaries would be understudied.)
In a VERY cursory search, I found two helpful resources:
1) A dense-as-heck article in a medical journal looking at the effect of relaxin on the musculoskeletal system; and
2) A gender-essentialist pop-sci article on Relaxin's implications or "female" athletes.
1) A dense-as-heck article in a medical journal looking at the effect of relaxin on the musculoskeletal system; and
2) A gender-essentialist pop-sci article on Relaxin's implications or "female" athletes.
(I put "female" in scare quotes because not everyone with ovaries is female, but Relaxin might impact ANYONE with ovaries, regardless of their assigned sex at birth or their gender identity. Like me! I'm not a lady, but I DO have ovaries and my body is in PPAAINNNN right now.)
Ok, let's talk about the dense-as-heck article in a medical journal looking at the effect of relaxin on the musculoskeletal system first.
Here's the link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4282454/
Here's the link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4282454/
The article is a survey of existing research on relaxin.
Re: ligaments, there seems to be some evidence that higher levels of relaxin in SOME "female" athletes MIGHT lead to higher rates of ACL injuries.
Re: ligaments, there seems to be some evidence that higher levels of relaxin in SOME "female" athletes MIGHT lead to higher rates of ACL injuries.
Re: tendons, the paper reviews a few studies that looked at human patellar joints (knees) TREATED with relaxin that DID cause the tendons to lengthen.
And when we get to cartilage, WE GET THE MONEY QUOTE
"Taken together, these findings suggested that in female, increased relaxin level may result in undesirable effects on the articular cartilage."
"Taken together, these findings suggested that in female, increased relaxin level may result in undesirable effects on the articular cartilage."
What's articular cartilage?
I'll let this other article on The Basic Science of Articular Cartilage tell us:
I'll let this other article on The Basic Science of Articular Cartilage tell us:
I'm actually not gonna go into that gender-essentialist pop-sci article, but here it is in case you want to share it: https://breakingmuscle.com/fitness/relaxin-hormone-facts-female-athletes-need-to-know
LOOK, like I said, I am not a fucking doctor. I'm not a scientist.
BUT I AM SOMEONE WITH OVARIES WHO EXPERIENCES TERRIBLE PAIN AFTER I OVULATE.
MAYBE SOMEONE COULD HAVE TALKED TO ME ABOUT THIS????
BUT I AM SOMEONE WITH OVARIES WHO EXPERIENCES TERRIBLE PAIN AFTER I OVULATE.
MAYBE SOMEONE COULD HAVE TALKED TO ME ABOUT THIS????
Maybe we can wrap this into conversation about hormonal birth control and other ways to stop menstruation?? https://twitter.com/ashkalexander/status/1315772713600835584?s=20
Here's the link to the articular cartilage article. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3445147/
