✗ The myth everyone repeats
Kids believed that 'double-jointed' people had literally doubled their number of joints, which is why they could bend their fingers and limbs backward.
✓ What is actually true
Double-jointed people (hypermobile individuals) have the same number of joints as everyone else. They simply have greater range of motion due to differences in ligament and muscle flexibility, often related to connective tissue properties like collagen makeup. Some have conditions like Ehlers-Danlos syndrome that increase flexibility, but this is a variation in tissue properties, not an additional joint.
Reception
The receipts 3 sources
- Mayo Clinic: Joint HypermobilityPRIMARY
- Wikipedia: HypermobilityREFERENCE
- Verywell Health: Double JointedREFERENCE