Joint Issues and ASD

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I have not seen any real discussion on this in the forums, so I wanted to ask those that have or suspect AS about this. I have read about joint/spine issues and ASD before and wonder if that is a real or spurious relationship. Please answer only if you suspect or been diagnosed with an ASD.

My story -
I have had bad knees since I was little. They used to give out while running all of the time. I cannot ride bikes or jog more than a couple blocks without a lot pain. I have baker's cysts in my left knee a 1/2 dozen times in the past few years (I'm sure my excessive walking doesn't help).

From high school, I started dealing with degenerative disc disease (DDD) in my cervical spine. It became increasingly worse until I needed surgery @ 25 to remove two discs in my neck and fuse plates and bone from my hip. I did not have an injury that sparked it or anything. The well respected surgeon said that I was his youngest patient for this surgery, but when performed, he found that they were the consistency of "mush".

About 28, I started getting it in my lumbar spine. I had multiple steroid injections without much help.

At 33, I started getting hip dislocation (which still pops in/out of socket).

A couple years ago, it was found that the discs above and below my cervical spine surgical spot have been increasingly worse and I have a very long bone spur that grew (as a shield) down two discs. They will not perform any surgery until I am completely handicapped because it is considered mechanical and they are extremely resistant to performing surgery on those that had surgery in the past.

I have taken prescribed pain medication for the past four years to deal with the harshness of the pain (3/4 maximum daily dose), use an expensive tracking device for my neck at home and walk approx. 5 miles per day (which helps my hips/back, but hurts my knees).

I suspect I may be on the spectrum and my son is diagnosed with Asperger's. I have had joint problems my entire life. I've never been athletic partially because frequently when I run I get a sharp stabbing pain in my ankle. This was happening in 1st grade so it's not an age issue. It was suspected when I was a baby that I had congenital hip dysplasia but that was dismissed after examination. The reason was because I dragged one leg when I crawled and my foot hung at an odd angle when I was picked up. I have had issues with sciatica even in early adulthood. When I do certain exercises and also after sex I can feel bone grinding against bone in my hip. I was told by a family doctor that I didn't have a metatarsal arch in my feet so that can throw the whole spine out of line. Those are just the details, I'm not sure if there's a correlation. I definitely have low muscle tone and tire easily when standing.

I have issues too, but nowhere near this level of severity.

I had put my pain down to work related and other injuries, I have been pretty hard on my body.

After it was too late to be a bit more careful i have found out there is a genetic history. Another 'benefit' of a dysfunctional family.

I found out recently through a neck x-ray that I have two fused bits on the top of my neck vertebrae. The chiropractor told me I was born with it, but I wonder whether it has something to do with an incident as a child and it healed like that. I had stuck my head out of the sash window and it was pushed up high, it plummeted down onto my neck and I was stuck there for a little while. Maybe it cracked something.

I have had bad lower back pain since the age of 17, and it can be excruciating. I can be disabled with it and hobbling. I think my lower back is weak, but I do have quite a lordotic posture.

I have aching knee joints a lot, but I think I have a reaction to tomatoes or peppers that might be connected to that.

I cannot ride a bike because my knees click and feel awful when I do it (well, I can't ride a proper bike anyway due to balance problems but this happens on an exercise bike, which is the same motion).

I think I have some hypermobility, as I can easily touch my palms on the floor despite being unfit.

Interesting. After reading your post, I decided to touch my toes. I haven't tried with knees locked in many years. I am 38 years old with the joint issues previously mentioned. I cannot put my palms on the floor and hold them, but I can make a fist and hold them on the ground without using the weight of my fist. I was afraid that my back was going to lock, but I had to try.

I only stretch to pop my hip sockets into place. I was pretty shocked. I am reasonably fit, but I was able to do the splits when I was 80 lbs heavier when I was 30 (I do not think I could do it any more with my hip issues, though, :LOL:).

I also was born with Spina Bifida Occulta (the kind that is considered asymptomatic), which was confirmed on multiple lower back x-rays/MRIs.

not sure if joint or bone but i get a tingling feeling there sometimes before it rains along with increased light sensitivity and fatigue

I have minor issues, but from aging not AS. That's why I try to keep active, because a little strengthening and stretching makes a world of difference.

Since I was a young girl, I've had an intense pain in one knee that comes and goes. No doctor has found a reason. It seems to flare up when I'm under stress. I also have a lot of inflammation in all of my joints now, at age 23, and they are stiff and achy when I wake up.

I actually have a lot of joint and back issues.

Both my elbows lock up whenever I'm lifting something heavy, and they'll often pop when I put what I'm carrying down. Simply turning my neck will result in popping, my back pops often, and when I bend my knees they pop. My jaw locks in one place often (which is scary because I can't close it ).

My doctor said it was because my bones are unusually dense.

Yes, I've had bad joint problems most of my life. After significant pain in both of my knees while playing sports I was diagnosed with arthritis at 9 year's of age. I have gout in both of my big toes and a gout attack will render me unable to walk without a cane for several days. I also experience routine back pain. I too wonder if my other conditions are connected to my autism.

Yup. Scoliosis and hypermobile joints. I used to sprain my ankles regularly because they are not very stable--my joints bend farther than most people and that makes them vulnerable to injury. And because I didn't know any better I used to wrap ace bandages around them to try to stabilize them, which only made things worse because it didn't help me strengthen the muscles around the joints very much. Nowadays I have grown older and my joints aren't quite as flexible (I can still put my hands flat on the floor when I touch my toes, and bend my thumbs back to touch my forearms, and clasp my hands behind my back, and all of that). But it helps, because now I walk a lot and I've gotten that muscle strength to back up the joints, and I haven't sprained my ankles in five or six years. Ironically, being overweight has also helped--you can't bend as far if there's fat cushioning everything. Usually being overweight is hard on your joints, but for me it's been a blessing in disguise.

In the last few years I have had an issue develop were my ankle or knee, come to think of it mainly the right side ones will lock up solid without warning for a maybe 5-10 secounds and it hurts alot, worse if I try to move it and to be honest the muscle or whatever it is behind my right knee always feels a little more tense and sore then the left. I have never had an injury to account for any of this and haven't played sports since I was 6 or 7. My jaw does it now and then aswell, not sure if its the same thing that Makayla discribes however its interesting to think about. I have never talked to anyone or a doctor about any of this nor do I plan to, to much hassle to only get nowhere.

Autism is associated with a lot of autoimmune disorders and hypermobility (and severe joint hypermobility syndrome is similar to Ehlers-Danlos syndrome). I could post a lot of research etc but I'm tired...

@Rapidroy, you are subluxing your ankle-, knee- and jaw-joints.

@slushy9, you most likely have migraines.

@MjrMajorMajor, I don't know how old you are, but you shouldn't have pain from aging alone. Commonly pain with old age (and I doubt that you're in your "old age") is because the joints are worn out causing osteoarthritis.

I have shoulder, back, wrist, and ankle problems. I'm sure a large portion of it is caused by a compulsive stimming habbit. The rest for have an underdeveloped muscular system, and a poor walk. I also am prone to overworking my muscles while working, causing frequent cramping.