Joint hypermobility can be difficult to measure because the extent of the condition varies from person to person.
However, you can use a system called the Beighton score to determine whether you have joint hypermobility.
The Beighton score
The Beighton score consists of a series of nine tests listed below. Each test carries a score of one point.
- Can you put your hands flat on the floor with your knees straight?
- Can you bend your left elbow backwards?
- Can you bend your right elbow backwards?
- Can you bend your left knee backwards?
- Can you bend your right knee backwards?
- Can you bend your left thumb back on to the front of your forearm?
- Can you bend your right thumb back on to the front of your forearm?
- Can you bend your left little finger at 90 degrees, towards the back of the hand?
- Can you bend your right little finger at 90 degrees, towards the back of the hand?
The Hypermobility Syndrome Association has images of the Beighton score tests if you would like more information.
Most people score less than two, but if you score four or more you probably have joint hypermobility. See your GP to confirm your diagnosis and check your symptoms are not caused by another condition.
If you also have symptoms, such as joint pain, you may have joint hypermobility syndrome. Your GP may be able to diagnose this using the Brighton criteria.
The Brighton criteria
The Brighton criteria take into account your Beighton score, but also consider other symptoms, such as joint pain and dislocated joints, and how long you have had them. There are major and minor Brighton criteria.
Major criteria
The major Brighton criteria are:
- having a Beighton score of four or more, either now or in the past
- having joint pain for longer than three months in four or more joints
Minor criteria
The minor Brighton criteria are:
- having a Beighton score of one to three, or having a Beighton score of zero to three if you are over 50 years of age
- having joint pain for longer than three months in one to three joints, or back pain for longer than three months, or spondylosis (spinal arthritis) or spondylolisthesis (where one small bone in your spine slips forward over another bone)
- dislocating, or partially dislocating, more than one joint or the same joint more than once
- having three or more injuries to your soft tissues, such as tenosynovitis (inflammation of the protective sheath around a tendon) or bursitis (inflammation of a fluid-filled sac in a joint)
- having particular physical characteristics called Marfanoid habitus – this includes being tall and slim and having long, slim fingers
- having abnormal skin, such as thin and stretchy skin
- having eye-related symptoms, such as droopy eyelids or short-sightedness, having swollen and enlarged veins (varicose veins), or a hernia (when an internal part of the body pushes through a weakness in the surrounding tissue wall) or a rectal or uterine prolapse (where an internal organ slips down from its usual position)
Joint hypermobility syndrome may be diagnosed if you have:
- two major criteria
- one major criteria and two minor criteria
- four minor criteria
- two minor criteria and a close relative, such as a parent, who has been diagnosed with joint hypermobility syndrome
Your GP may also carry out blood tests and X-rays to rule out other conditions associated with joint pains, such as rheumatoid arthritis.
Assessing your condition
As well as diagnosing your joint hypermobility syndrome, it is also important that your GP fully assesses the effect the condition is having.
Joint hypermobility syndrome can cause a wide range of symptoms, including symptoms that affect your digestive system and blood pressure (read more about the symptoms of joint hypermobility).
It will be necessary to assess the effect of all your symptoms on your quality of life and ability to carry out every day tasks.
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