What’s it like to be a singer with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (HEDS)? In this episode of Vocal Tips in 10, I share my personal journey and how HEDS impacts vocal health, performance, and daily singing.
You’ll get practical tips like structuring shorter sessions, using gentle exercises, and adjusting your setup for more stability—plus insight on the positives, the importance of listening to your body, and more. Whether you’re living with HEDS or simply curious about its effects on singing, this episode offers encouragement, strategies, and tools to help you keep making music with strength and joy.
00:00 Introduction to Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
03:29 Personal Experiences with Hypermobile EDS
11:19 Tools and Techniques for Singers with Hypermobile EDS
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Hello friends, in today's episode I'm going to be talking with you about what it's like to be a singer with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
I'm not going to be talking about this from the perspective of a medical professional because I am not a medical professional. I'm going to be talking about it from the perspective of someone who lives with it. I was diagnosed about two years ago, but people have been talking to me about it for many years now and finally got that official diagnosis And then I'm going to be talking about it from the perspective of someone who works.
and has worked with a lot of hypermobile singers and singers who have hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome first thing I just want to say is to clarify you can be hypermobile. That does not mean you have EDS.
You also can have EDS and not be hypermobile. I'm going to be specifically talking about hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. And it's a connective tissue disorder. So one of the first ways that they found it in me was that I started having
ankle issues. I would be just walking on pavement and my ankle would give out from underneath me or my husband calls it the carpet monster. There's also the grass monster, the pavement monster. You know, I'll just be walking. Nothing major happens and my ankle would just give out from under me. What I later found is that it would be a pebble or uneven ground that all of us can walk on and a regular joint with regular connective tissue would feel that little wobble and pull you right back.
My joints have way extra give So mine just went to fall, nothing pulled it back up. Instead the opposite, it stretched way too far, ripping tendons and ligaments and putting me in a boot for many, many, many weeks. That has happened to me four times.
I think because of that, and because we talk about hypermobile, being double-jointed in multiple areas, people think, okay, well, that's somebody who's really, really stretchy. And that is part of it, absolutely.
but that's not the only part of it. With hypermobility and hypermobile EDS, you get areas that are really, really stretchy. Then to compensate for that, other joints get way tighter than they should be. than is ideal for them to function because they are trying to compensate for those other areas of your body that are really loosey goosey.
So hypermobility doesn't just mean super stretchy everywhere. It means super stretchy in some areas and many times quite tight in other areas that can impact you just as much as the super stretchy can as your body tries to compensate.
So it's this mix of stretchy and tight. One of the tools that you can use, this is not a diagnostic tool, but it is a screening tool, is called the Baton test. I will put that down in the show notes for you to check it out. You can get a maximum of nine points on the Baton scale. What it's looking for is both of your pinkies.
If you can take your pinky, and for any of you watching this on YouTube, you'll see mine, if you can take your pinky and pull it up a 90 degree angle, any of you who are watching this and can't do that, most people are like, please stop. For me, it is nothing. If you can do that for one pinky, that is one point. So both of your pinkies are a point. Both of your thumbs, if you can take your thumb and pull it down, Both of those are a point. Both of your elbows are a point. Both of your knees are a point and your waist is a point.
If you have four or more points, there is a possibility that you are hypermobile. Again, that does not mean you have hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
HEDS can impact your voice because it is a connective tissue disorder. Well, our larynx has lots of connective tissue. It can affect your jaw. It can affect your tongue. It can affect your rib cage. It can affect your pelvic floor.
all these different areas that can very much directly impact your voice. Also, our body is our instrument. So when I had those ankle injuries, that kind of throws your whole body off. That can affect your voice. The other thing that can happen is
because our body works extra hard to keep us upright, we can fatigue more quickly. You can fatigue more quickly in the body. You can fatigue more quickly.
in the voice. And there's so many other things that can happen. and none of us are the same. I see some singers who have difficulty over the break. I think that can be quite typical. I see some singers who have extra difficulty with her upper register. I see some singers who have difficulty with breath.
because of their connective tissue and it really affects kind of rib cage expansion, people that fatigue, people that get hoarse and raspy. It's very different for everybody. So I wanna say that as well.
And I think that's probably why when I've tried to do as much research as I can on HEDS just as a person having it myself, I don't find a lot of help out there. Most times when it is talked about, it is incredibly general, which I totally get because we're all so different. And it's almost always a little sad, like, they cry a lot, We just need to give them the patience that they need.
They need lots of breaks, they need lots of rest, and that can be totally true. And I think it's wonderful for people to share that and to share, if you are somebody that's dealing with a chronic condition and you feel bad, it's okay to feel bad that you feel bad. I think that's wonderful. And also it's not always bad, you guys. I want to point that out in this too.
For example, ever heard of a little gal named Billie Eilish? Billie Eilish has HEDS, And I wanna say that to you in case you are somebody who's recently got this diagnosis or you have this diagnosis and sometimes it can be this feeling of like, well, forget it. I always wanted to do X, Y, and Z and I can't. She's doing pretty well.
there are also people out there who are amazing dancers a quite large percentage of Broadway dancers and many Broadway singers when I say quite large percentage I mean compared to the rest of the population have hypermobility syndrome or hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
and it helps them, it gives them more mobility. As a dancer, they are able to move a wider range of motion. They can move more smoothly. They just look kind of really beautiful, many of them, when they dance, because they have these angles the average bear can't have. For some singers, hypermobility and hypermobile EDS is a superpower in many ways. They have expanded range. Their agility is really up-leveled.
Sia has hypermobile EDS. Shakira has hypermobility syndrome, Then there's people like Lady Gaga, who has fibromyalgia. There's people like Selena Gomez, who has lupus. These chronic conditions.
they don't mean we have to be done. I do think they mean we have to listen to our body. Everybody's going to be different. And I think we have to listen to it more than the average bear. So that kind of takes me into some things that you can do as a singer. If you find out you have hypermobility syndrome or HEDS and you feel like it is affecting your singing.
Because we can fatigue more easily, more quickly, sometimes shorter singing sessions, shorter bursts of singing with breaks in between are ideal. So I have a number of singers I'm working with right now that have HEDS. For some of them, we do hour long sessions and it's a great fit. I have others where we do 30 minutes Because more than 30 minutes,
They start to feel some fatigue. Our rate of return starts to go down, right? We're not getting the bang for our buck anymore. And we get some really good work done there and we stop. We do a short session. You might be somebody who an hour long singing makes you feel kind of hoarse and raspy and run down in whatever way So try a little 15, 20 minute bursts. The great news is we know from a motor learning standpoint, that's actually
more effective you to learn those skills more quickly, for them to become intrinsic. For good motor learning, we need repetition, but we also need novelty. So those short little bursts can be far more effective anyway, and they can really be beneficial Another thing I recommend to some of my singers that have HEDS,
is sitting when they sing. And I know that might be counterintuitive to your old school choir teacher who was like, stand up, chest out, all of this. Well, that, you know, that doesn't always work great for many of us, but for hypermobile folks, it really doesn't work great. years before I was first diagnosed, I worked with a fantastic PT
And one of the first things she said she noticed about me was anytime I stood with my feet apart, how we're supposed to quote, unquote, stand for singing, I hyper extended my knees without even realizing it. And then when I stood comfortably, I always stand with my legs crossed in a ballet position. kind of think ⁓ turned out, what is that fourth position, fifth position? It's been a while since I've been a dancer, but heel to toe with your toes both out opposite directions.
always thought, well it's because I was a dancer for so many years. And then I realized, ⁓ that is what makes me feel stable. I feel less wiggly when I do that. If I'm expected to just stand up straight, I always got like a hip popped out. I'm bouncing around. If I'm sitting, I usually have a leg hiked up.
So expecting every singer to just stand up straight or sit up straight and that's how they sing is not taking into account that we all have different bodies, we all have different needs. And sometimes with hypermobile singers and singers, especially with HEDS, sitting when you sing can make a really big difference.
another thing I wanted to bring up, a lot of times we think about singing through a large straw into water. That kind of SOVT can be really helpful, really habilitative and rehabilitative for us as singers and voice users. Sometimes I find, singing through that straw into water, even a quite large straw is too much resistance.
for some of my HEDS singers. And also too much resistance one day and not too much the next day. You really just have to listen to your body. So what I find can be really helpful to still get some of that massage benefit and a little bit of back pressure, but with a lot less resistance is something called cup bubbles.
So I'm gonna get my cup out here. I've taken, it's a lid and a straw cup. I've taken that off. It's filled with liquid. What I want you to think about doing is think about like doing a gentle lip trill but you're going to put your mouth to the edge of the cup and let a little water tip in. So it sounds like this. I'll do a single pitch. ⁓
Hopefully you guys can hear that. It feels so great no matter what. Even if you don't have HEDS or hypermobility, cup bubbles feel so good. They especially feel good if you have overworked, if you're tired, if you're getting over sickness, anything like that. There's only benefit to them. So think they're a much more gentle version of even the large straw into water. And I found them to be a really great fit for a number of my singers where the straw into water is still too much resistance,
So we do the cup bubbles and they feel great. The only negative is the water splashes on your face. So if you have makeup on, don't do them right before a performance and kind of like, you know, splashes on your chest Maybe I need like vocal tips in 10 podcast logo bibs for all of my singers who do cup bubbles, but they feel great. So you can do one pitch. I love to do sliding intervals, a third.
A fifth. And take it up and down your range and let me wipe some of that off of my face. Another thing that I find helpful for a number of my hypermobile singers is using more twangy exaggerated sounds. Some of those can really help lock in that more forward resonance, let the singer get off of the vocal folds.
get that better vocal fold adduction, get a little bit clearer, more connected sound.
And again, might not work for you.
a big part of it is learning to listen to yourself, learning to listen to your voice, trying different things, finding what works for you, realizing it might change from day to day and that's okay. And making the accommodations that you need to make.
This is already past 10 minutes. I'm gonna stop talking now. I hope a few of those tools that I gave are helpful. This is such a big subject. If you listen to this or you watch this and you think, hey, I have more questions, I'd like to talk more about something, leave me a comment, DM me, let me know. and I'll be really honest, I have a fantastic team.
and have wonderful mentors and I work myself with a lot of hypermobile singers. And still I haven't found anybody, the greatest doctor, the greatest whatever that has all the answers. Everybody's like, hey, we're learning more. This is what we know now and this is what we're learning and we hope to learn more here. And so I think it's just an ongoing.
educational opportunity, From personal experience, from working with others, from learning from others. And so if I can be helpful in any other way for you guys, when it comes to this subject, let me know. Much love to everybody and see you in the next episode.
