Connective Tissue Disorders: What Are They and How Do They Affect Your Joints?
A connective tissue disorder affects the proteins that hold your body together, including collagen and elastin. When these tissues are weaker or stretchier than normal, your joints can become overly loose. This laxity changes the way you stand, move and bear weight, often causing pain far from the original problem.
Key takeaways
- Connective tissue disorders weaken the structural "glue" of your body, especially collagen.
- Joint laxity means joints move beyond their normal range, leading to instability and pain.
- Pain often appears in the back, hips or knees because loose joints shift your alignment.
- Standing, whole-body imaging shows alignment problems that lying-down scans can miss.
- ScanAlign provides diagnostic imaging only, not treatment.
What is a connective tissue disorder?
A connective tissue disorder is a condition where the proteins that support and connect your organs, bones, muscles and skin do not work properly. Connective tissue is found everywhere in the body. It forms the scaffolding that keeps everything in place. The most important protein in connective tissue is collagen, which gives structure and strength to your joints, tendons, ligaments and skin.
When collagen or other structural proteins are faulty, the tissues become weaker, stretchier or more fragile than they should be. This can be something you are born with (hereditary) or something that develops later in life. Either way, the result is the same. The structures that should hold your skeleton steady become less reliable, and your joints can start to move more than they should.
What are the symptoms of a connective tissue disorder?
Symptoms depend on the type and severity of the condition, but most people notice problems in their joints, muscles or posture. Because connective tissue is everywhere, symptoms can be widespread and easy to dismiss as "just being flexible."
Frequent popping, clicking or a feeling that a joint slides out of place and back in again.
Ongoing aches in several joints, often worse after activity or at the end of the day.
Difficulty holding yourself upright. Muscles tire quickly because they work harder to stabilise loose joints.
Skin that bruises easily, feels unusually soft, or stretches more than expected.
Important: if you experience sudden numbness, weakness, loss of bladder or bowel control, or any severe symptoms that come on without warning, seek urgent medical attention. Contact your GP, call 111 or go to A&E.
What are the main types of connective tissue disorders?
There are many types of connective tissue disorders, but a few are most commonly associated with joint laxity and musculoskeletal pain. They are usually hereditary, meaning the faulty gene is passed from parent to child.
A group of conditions affecting collagen. The hypermobile type is most common and causes widespread joint laxity and pain.
Affects a protein called fibrillin. People are often tall with long limbs. Joints, eyes and the heart can all be involved.
Sometimes called "brittle bone disease." A collagen defect makes bones break more easily than normal.
Joint hypermobility with pain but without the full diagnostic criteria for EDS. Still significantly affects daily life.
Marfan syndrome vs EDS is a common question. Both are hereditary connective tissue disorders, but they affect different proteins. EDS primarily involves collagen and usually causes very flexible joints and fragile skin. Marfan syndrome affects fibrillin and is more closely linked with heart and eye complications alongside joint laxity. Both can significantly alter your skeletal alignment.
How does joint laxity change your alignment?
Joint laxity shifts your alignment because loose joints cannot hold your skeleton in its ideal position. Your body is a connected chain from your feet to your head. When one area is too mobile, the areas above and below it have to compensate.
For example, loose ligaments around the pelvis can cause a pelvic tilt. Your spine then adjusts its curves to keep your head balanced over your feet. That extra curve might create pain in your lower back, mid-back or neck, even though the underlying problem started in the pelvis. Similarly, lax knee ligaments can change the angle of your legs and increase stress on your hips.
This chain of compensation is one of the most overlooked aspects of connective tissue disorders. A scan that only looks at the painful area will often miss the bigger picture.
How does a standing EOS scan help with connective tissue disorder diagnosis?
A standing EOS scan captures your entire skeleton in one image while you are upright and weight-bearing. This is important because connective tissue disorder diagnosis depends on understanding how your body actually behaves under gravity, not how it looks relaxed on a table.
Standard imaging, such as a lying-down X-ray, CT or MRI, removes the effect of gravity and lets your muscles relax. Loose joints may appear normal because there is no load on them. Once you stand up, your lax connective tissue allows joints to shift, curves to change and your weight to distribute unevenly. A standing whole-body image reveals these compensations clearly.
The EOS system uses about 90% less radiation than a standard X-ray, around ten times less. This makes it a practical option if you need follow-up imaging over time, which is common with hereditary connective tissue disorders.
When MRI is the better choice: EOS shows bones, joints and alignment. For soft tissue, discs or nerves, MRI is usually the better tool. If your specialist needs to look at cartilage, ligament tears or nerve compression, they will likely recommend MRI alongside or instead of EOS. The two work well together.
If you have a diagnosed or suspected connective tissue disorder and want to understand how it affects your alignment, a free video consultation can help you decide if a standing scan is the right next step.
Book a free video consultationWhat helps with connective tissue disease and joint pain?
Managing joint pain from a connective tissue disorder usually involves several approaches working together. ScanAlign is a diagnostic imaging clinic, so we do not provide treatment. However, having a clear picture of your alignment gives your treatment team, whether a physiotherapist, rheumatologist or orthopaedic surgeon, the information they need to plan care that fits your body.
Without whole-body alignment data, treatment can focus on the site of pain rather than the cause. For someone with joint laxity, strengthening the wrong area or stretching an already overmobile joint could make things worse. Accurate imaging helps avoid that.
You do not need a GP referral to book a scan at ScanAlign. Many people self-refer because they want answers about pain that has not been explained by previous imaging. You can find details about what to expect, safety and costs on our FAQs page.
Frequently asked questions about connective tissue disorders and imaging
Joint hypermobility means your joints move beyond the normal range. A connective tissue disorder is the underlying cause of that extra movement. Not everyone with flexible joints has a disorder, but if hypermobility comes with pain, fatigue or other symptoms, a connective tissue condition may be responsible.
No. They are both hereditary connective tissue disorders, but they involve different proteins. Marfan syndrome affects fibrillin and is more associated with heart and eye issues alongside joint laxity. EDS primarily affects collagen and tends to cause more widespread joint hypermobility and skin fragility.
Yes. Loose ligaments in the pelvis or spine allow extra movement between the vertebrae. Your muscles then work harder to keep you upright, which can cause persistent back, hip and knee pain.
When you lie down, gravity is removed and your muscles relax. Joints that are loose or misaligned under your body weight can look normal on a lying-down scan. A standing scan captures what actually happens when you are upright, which is how you spend most of your day.
The EOS system uses about 90% less radiation than a standard X-ray, around ten times less. This lower dose is especially helpful if you need follow-up scans over time.
No. You can self-refer. Many people book because they want a clearer picture of their alignment without waiting for a referral through the NHS or their consultant.
Pricing details are on our FAQs page. ScanAlign is a private, self-pay clinic.
An EOS scan does not diagnose the disorder itself. That requires clinical assessment, often by a rheumatologist or geneticist. What the scan does is show how the disorder affects your skeletal alignment, which is valuable information for your diagnosis and treatment planning.
Yes. The scan is quick and you simply stand still. If you have concerns about standing for the duration, a free video consultation beforehand lets us discuss your situation and make sure the scan is right for you.
ScanAlign provides imaging for adults. If you need imaging for a child, please speak to your GP or paediatrician for an appropriate referral.
Understand how your connective tissue affects your alignment
A free video consultation lets you discuss your symptoms and find out whether a standing whole-body scan could give you and your treatment team the answers you need.
Book a free video consultationWritten by Abbas Dhami (Specialist Diagnostic Radiographer)
Sources
- Malfait F, et al. "The 2017 International Classification of the Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes." American Journal of Medical Genetics Part C: Seminars in Medical Genetics, 2017; 175(1): 8-26.
- NHS. "Joint hypermobility." nhs.uk. Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/joint-hypermobility/
- Loeys BL, et al. "The revised Ghent nosology for the Marfan syndrome." Journal of Medical Genetics, 2010; 47(7): 476-485.
This page is general information and not a diagnosis.
ScanAlign is the trading name of CoreMed Solutions Ltd and operates under The Harley Street Hospital's CQC licence.