May is EDS/HSD Awareness Month — And We Want to Talk About It

Written By Rosemary Antonuccio - Senior Physiotherapist -

If you've got Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome or a Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder, chances are you've spent a long time feeling like your body is a bit of a mystery. You might have seen a whole list of specialists, been told your results look "normal," and wondered why on earth everything still hurts. 

We see you. We really, really do. 

May is EDS/HSD Awareness Month, and here at Newcastle Aquatic Physiotherapy in Jesmond, it feels like the right time to shine a light on this complex, often misunderstood condition — and talk honestly about how aquatic physiotherapy can genuinely help. 

First — What Are We Actually Talking About? 

EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) and HSD (Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder) are connective tissue conditions that affect the way your joints, skin, and internal systems work. They're not rare — they're just rarely recognised quickly enough. And because connective tissue is literally everywhere in the body, the symptoms can be wide-ranging and deeply personal. Pain. Fatigue. Joint instability. Gut issues. Brain fog. Heart rate fluctuations. Anxiety. Depression. It's a lot to carry. 

That's why we love a tool called The Spider (www.thespidertool.com). It's a free questionnaire developed by researchers at University College London and Ghent University, designed specifically for people with HSD and hEDS. It maps symptoms across eight domains — pain, fatigue, neuromusculoskeletal symptoms, cardiac dysautonomia, anxiety, depression, gastrointestinal, and urogenital — and helps you and your health team see the full picture at a glance. Think of it like a web — some parts might be stretched far out, others barely touched. That visual map is a really, really powerful way to understand what's going on and where to focus care. If you haven't come across it yet, it's worth a look. 

Why Water Changes Everything 

Here's the thing about EDS and HSD — land-based exercise can feel like a nightmare. Your joints are unstable, your proprioception (that sense of where your body is in space) is often disrupted, and the fear of pain or injury can make movement feel genuinely scary. We totally get it. 

Water is different. The buoyancy of the pool offloads your joints, reduces the compressive forces going through an already vulnerable system, and gives your body a chance to move without that constant bracing and guarding. But it doesn't stop there — water also provides a gentle, consistent sensory environment that is really valuable for people with EDS and HSD. 

The Halliwick Concept — More Than Just Floating Around 

At Newcastle Aquatic Physiotherapy, we integrate the Halliwick Concept into our aquatic sessions, and for clients with EDS and HSD, this is where things get genuinely exciting. 

Halliwick is a therapeutic approach that explores how the body responds to movement through water — specifically looking at three planes of rotation: sagittal, frontal, and transverse. For someone with EDS or HSD, there are often specific deficits in how the body controls and senses movement in one or more of these planes. The water helps us find them — and then work on them — in a way that is both therapeutic and honestly, kind of fascinating. 

One of the things we're working on with this client group is proprioception and the sensory map — or what's called the homunculus, the brain's internal representation of the body. When connective tissue is lax and joint mechanoreceptors aren't firing as they should, that map gets a bit blurry. Aquatic therapy gives us a rich sensory environment to challenge and refine that map — improving body awareness, movement confidence, and stability from the inside out. 

What Does This Look Like in Practice? 

It looks like carefully designed, one-on-one sessions in our warm hydrotherapy pool here in Jesmond. It looks like a physio who's genuinely curious about your presentation — because no two EDS/HSD clients are the same. We use tools like the Spider to track your symptom profile, and we tailor everything to what your body needs on that day. 

Some days that might be gentle rotational movements to improve trunk control. Other days it might be balance and proprioceptive challenges in the water. Always — always — it's guided, safe, and paced by you. 

You Deserve Care That Actually Fits 

If you or someone you love is navigating EDS or HSD, please know there is real, meaningful support available. You don't have to white-knuckle through it alone. 

Come have a chat with us. We offer complimentary 15-minute discovery calls — just a relaxed conversation to see if we're the right fit. Because you deserve care that really, truly sees the whole picture.