> Hope for teenager with 'elastic' bones
>
> MICHAEL BLACKLEY
>
>
> A TEENAGE girl who has suffered a lifetime of sprains and broken
> bones has been diagnosed with a rare condition that allows her to
> bend and stretch muscles and bones all over her body.
>
> Lauren Munro, 19, from Gullane in East Lothian, has sprained her
> wrist or ankle more than 100 times, as well as suffering breaks to
> her legs, wrists and arms.
>
> However, when she visited a specialist in London last December she
> realised she had a serious condition, called hypermobility syndrome.
>
> Ms Munro said she needed to take three or more days off school every
> week because of injuries that came about as a result of her
> condition.
>
> She added: "I was always really tired, I always slept in, and PE
> classes were a nightmare - I'd always hurt myself. People used to
> point out the way that I stood, and laugh at how I walked squint."
>
> For years, doctors said it was all just part of her growing up. But
> one doctor finally gave her a test and she discovered that she might
> have hypermobility syndrome. But it was only after her own internet
> research that she found Professor Rodney Grahame at the University
> College London Hospital, an expert in the field.
>
> She said that the advice passed on to her GP from Prof Grahame, and
> the resulting course of physiotherapy, has made her condition much
> more manageable. "He's been brilliant. I've started to see big
> improvements already. But it's always a battle to make sure I'm doing
> everything I need to be," she said.