12 Myths About The Human Body Debunked

Some people are capable of amazing feats of flexibility, maybe even you. People like this are often described as double jointed. But, if you haven’t guessed by now, I must tell you that this descriptive phrase is itself a fallacy.

Nobody is actually born with extra joints. Even if they were, each joint would act antagonistically to each other and in fact reduce the mobility of the individual even further. Imagine having two elbows that bend in opposite directions; they would each stop the other from bending.

The true term for this phenomenon is hypermobility and it is much more common than people realise, with several studies claiming just over 25% of the population may have it.

The main causes for this are either incorrect alignment/ formation of the bones in the joints, overly stretchy ligaments, or some combination of the two.

For the vast majority of people whose jobs or hobbies do not require such flexibility, it serves little purpose and would barely cause any effect on someone’s life. There are also downsides to this flexibility, which unfortunately affect almost all that have the condition, for instance a reduced grip strength, but nothing too impactful.