Arachnoiditis is considered one of the most painful conditions in medicine, yet many patients spend years fighting to be believed because so many clinicians were never taught to recognize it. On this week’s episode of the @bendy_bodies Podcast, pain specialist Dr. Forest Tennant explains what happens in the spine when…
Severe back pain that refuses to respond to treatment may sometimes have a far more serious cause than most people realize. In this episode of Bendy Bodies, Dr. Linda Bluestein speaks with Dr. Forest Tennant, a longtime physician and researcher who has spent decades studying adhesive arachnoiditis, a rare but…
On today’s episode of @bendy_bodies, I spoke with Dr. Ina Stephens, Associate Director of the UVA Health EDS and Hypermobility Disorders Center, about an often-overlooked piece of the fatigue puzzle: muscle mass. As Dr. Stephens explains, muscle acts as the body’s energy warehouse. Building and maintaining muscle can help improve…
When living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and hypermobility disorders, medications alone rarely resolve all the symptoms. In this episode of Bendy Bodies, Dr. Linda Bluestein is joined by Dr. Ina Stephens, integrative medicine specialist and Associate Medical Director of the UVA Health EDS and Hypermobility Disorders Center, for a wide-ranging conversation…
There is no magic treatment for Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, POTS, or mast cell activation disorders, but there is strategy. In this episode of Bendy Bodies, Dr. Linda Bluestein is joined by Dacre Knight, MD, founding Medical Director of the UVA Health EDS and Hypermobility Disorders Center, for a practical and deeply…
It’s a physiologic pattern that includes the heart rate rising excessively upon standing — and it must be accompanied by other symptoms. Heat or cold intolerance. Digestive issues. Lightheadedness. Near-fainting — or fainting. On today’s episode of @bendy_bodies, I break down what POTS actually is — and what it isn’t.…
POTS is a real diagnosis, but it isn’t always the whole story. In this episode of Bendy Bodies, Dr. Linda Bluestein takes a deep dive into POTS imitators: conditions that can mimic, worsen, or coexist with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome and quietly derail treatment progress. Inspired by listener questions and…
Labeled anxious. Called complicated. Filed away as functional — and dismissed. On today’s episode of @bendy_bodies, Dr. Dacre Knight from the University of Virginia returns, and we dig into why complex chronic illness patients are so often mislabeled instead of fully evaluated. We talk about what happens when symptoms are…
Why are people with Ehlers-Danlos syndromes, POTS, and mast cell disorders so frequently misdiagnosed, or dismissed entirely? In this episode of Bendy Bodies, Dr. Linda Bluestein is joined by Dr. Dacre Knight, Medical Director of the UVA Health EDS and Hypermobility Disorders Center, for a wide-ranging conversation about why complex,…
Too many patients with EDS, POTS, and mast cell symptoms aren’t under-diagnosed — they’re gaslit. Labeled anxious. Called complicated. Filed away as functional — and dismissed. On today’s episode of @bendy_bodies, Dr. Dacre Knight from the University of Virginia returns, and we dig into why complex chronic illness patients are…
Pelvic pain, bladder symptoms, and sexual health concerns are incredibly common in people with Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes, yet they’re often misunderstood, dismissed, or treated in isolation. In this episode of Bendy Bodies, Dr. Linda Bluestein is joined by Dr. Rachel Rubin, a board-certified urologist and nationally recognized leader in sexual medicine,…
This is bigger than a podcast episode — it’s a partnership in progress. On today’s episode of @bendy_bodies, I’m joined by Dr. Dacre Knight and Dr. Ina Stephens from the University of Virginia for a conversation that reflects something we deeply need in connective tissue care: research and real patient…
What would it look like if people with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome finally had a true medical home? In this episode of Bendy Bodies, Dr. Linda Bluestein is joined by Dr. Ina Stephens and Dr. Dacre Knight to share the story behind the newly launched University of Virginia Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Center, how…
Why do so many people with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) also struggle with symptoms that look like Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS)? And why is it still so hard to prove what’s actually driving that connection? On today’s episode of @bendy_bodies, I spoke with hematologist and mast cell disease expert…
Mast Cell Activation Syndrome is one of the most misunderstood, and underrecognized, conditions in modern medicine. In this episode, Dr. Linda Bluestein is joined by Dr. Lawrence Afrin, one of the world’s leading experts on mast cell disease, to unpack why MCAS is so often missed, why tryptase alone is…
Why do so many expensive therapies and “specialized” programs seem to cluster around Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS)? And how can patients tell when something is truly helpful… versus when it’s simply well marketed? On today’s episode of @bendy_bodies, I spoke with neuro opthamologist Dr. Eric L. Singman about how to think…
In this episode, Dr. Linda Bluestein is joined by Dr. Eric Singman, a neuro-ophthalmologist who lives at the intersection of the eyes, the brain, and the complex symptoms so many people with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome experience. They dig into why EDS patients often struggle with vision even when everything looks “normal,”…
When we have chronic pain, the part of the brain responsible for motivation, planning, problem-solving, optimism, and emotional regulation — the prefrontal cortex — doesn’t function the same way. On today’s episode of @bendy_bodies, I talk with Dr. Shimi Kang about how chronic pain shifts the nervous system into a…
In this expansive and deeply affirming conversation, Linda Bluestein and Shimi Kang explore a powerful idea: true healing comes from connection, not control—especially when living with chronic pain, nervous system dysregulation, or complex, overlapping conditions. They unpack the neuroscience of emotional regulation and why chronic pain so often disrupts attention,…
If you have hypermobility, POTS, or dysautonomia, this experience is common — and it’s rooted in physiology, not willpower. On today’s episode of @bendy_bodies, I’m joined by vascular surgeon Dr. Robert Hacker, MD, to talk about why so many patients feel awful upon standing and a brief, low-risk pre-standing technique…
What if your chronic pain, bloating, or fatigue wasn’t in your head, but in your blood vessels? In this episode, Dr. Linda Bluestein sits down with vascular surgeon Dr. Robert Hacker, who’s on the front lines of diagnosing and treating complex conditions like MALS (Median Arcuate Ligament Syndrome), Nutcracker Syndrome,…
And why is this experience so common in people with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (HSD)? On today’s episode of @bendy_bodies, I talk about dyspraxia and impaired motor planning in EDS. Dyspraxia is not caused by muscle weakness alone. In EDS, impaired proprioception, the body’s ability to sense…
In this Office Hours episode, Dr. Linda Bluestein tackles some of the most challenging questions from our listeners and dive deep into the overlooked intersections of hypermobility, surgical complications, and neurodiversity. What happens when five rectal prolapse surgeries fail? Dr. Bluestein breaks down why so many surgical interventions fall short…
In this episode, Dr. Linda Bluestein sits down with Lara Bloom, President and CEO of The Ehlers-Danlos Society, for a revealing look behind the curtain of the Society’s ambitious global roadmap to 2026. What will it take to finally change the trajectory for people with EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes) and HSD…