Scoliosis Surgery, Hypermobility, and Enjoying the Little Things: Ellen’s Story

What does it really look like to be a working model with hEDS, chronic illness, and disability?

Listening to your body is hard – ESPECIALLY when you're hypermobile and struggle to feel things in the first place.

Is it really “just” an ankle sprain? WE’RE BACK (again!) and this episode, I’m joined by physiotherapist and clinic founder Charlie Goodchild @physio.coach.london to talk about ankle sprains and hypermobility, and why these injuries are often more complex than they seem. For people who are hypermobile, (including those with hEDS or HSD) ankle sprains can be more frequent, slower to recover, and sometimes part of a bigger picture involving joint instability, proprioception challenges, and recurrent injury. We explore why standard advice does not always work for hypermobile bodies and what a more informed approach to rehab can look like. Charlie shares practical insights on ankle instability, strength training, rehab progressions, and how to stop the cycle of repeated sprains. We also discuss how to know when an ankle injury needs deeper assessment rather than being dismissed as “just a sprain.” In this episode, we cover: * Why ankle sprains are common in hypermobility • The link between hypermobility and chronic ankle instability • Why getting a boot might save you a lot of future ankle-related grief • Charlie’s personal journey navigating ankle sprains and eventually ankle surgery • When to seek further assessment or specialist support

What if the problem was never that you weren’t trying hard enough, but that your hypermobile body needed a different approach to strength training?

Author, speaker, and chronic illness advocate Lorraine Ansell and I talk about learning to live with and love your body while living with chronic pain and complex health challenges. Through a discussion of her book The Surrender Agenda, we explore Lorraine’s experience of living with hEDS, including navigating serious health events and profound personal loss, and how years of wondering why she wasn’t “strong enough” led to a reckoning with identity, self-worth, and the belief that pushing harder is always the answer. This is a conversation about invisible grief, losing trust in your body, and the slow, often uncomfortable process of learning to care for yourself with kindness. In this episode, we dig into: • Learning to live with (and perhaps even come to love) your chronic pain • Navigating difficult health and life experiences, including retinal detachment and miscarriage • Why The Surrender Agenda was exactly the book I didn’t know I needed This episode is for anyone living with chronic illness, navigating grief or medical trauma, or wondering how to stop being at war with their body while still living fully. If you would like to learn more about Lorraine’s book visit https://www.lorraineansellauthor.com/ You can also find Lorraine online on Instagram and Tiktok THANK YOU for watching, and remember: incurable does not mean untreatable ❣️