Can ligament laxity be fixed?

This may be a dumb question but I have some mild/sometimes moderate instability in my knees and left shoulder (major instability in right shoulder--getting labrum repair in the winter) due to natural hypermobility and the resulting ligament laxity. I understand that hypermobility doesn't go away, but last night I listened to the F1 webinar and Coach mentioned the time cycles at which your body replaces connective tissue. This caused me to wonder: If I have instability resulting from hypermobility/ligament laxity without any other joint damage, then can the ligament laxity be "fixed" by the connective tissue strength built from foundation/handstand work and the im's?

Thanks for any help clearing this up--the news that I'm needing surgery has caused some fears to spring up about my knees and shoulders going bad on me. I don't think there is any existing joint damage in my left shoulder or either knee, but I guess it's difficult to tell for sure without an MRI or something like that.

Although the hypermobility won't go away the laxity will seem to be fixed from the strength training.

Hypermobility/joint laxity can be due to ligament, joint alignment, muscle strength and muscle control. If you have mild laxity you can develop your muscle strength and neuromuscular control to compensate. As long as you don't have a traumatic injury like in contact sport you will be fine. If I could recommend any program for those with instability, it is this one. You have years of exercises that train and progress the whole body in a safe manner. Where else can you get that? And for such a cheap price?

From a deep genetic pov i've studied the modifications of expression of collagen specific gene. well there are different opinion from physio to physio about training safety with joints laxity. the collagen property in therms of elasticity is of course determined by gene expression and it cannot be modified. on the other hand the property the tendons and ligaments have to resist to heavy force can be increased.

Usually these problem are part of "genetic collagen disorders"  and this means specific variations of collagens IX (COL 9A1, 9A2, and 9A3), XI (COL 11a1 and 11A2), and V (COL 5A1 and 5A2). probably and i said probably balance the antagonist muscles of hyper mobile joints could be interesting but of course it's not a solution especially if you are in the situation i cited above.

We can also talk about hypermobility syndrom that does not affect the connective tissue problems...it covers pathology like Marfan syndrome, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and osteogenesis imperfecta, no one f those problems are progressive. these represent the most cases of joint laxity and they can be cured with proper joints conditioning and strength training. Actually the genetic test for connective pathology it's quite rare. check a specialist to perform some test and discard one of the options.

I, too have joint laxity issues. Its a collagen issue overall as its also got something to do with blood vessels and swelling and interstitial fluid leaking out <-- very scientific, I know. And keep in mind I'm still on F1 and build muscle so damn slowly I might be here for another 2 years, so my knowledge on the gymnastics front is minimal. I don't have EDS though I have 2 friends with diagnosed EDS and they do similar things. 

 

1. Weight training for all those stabilising muscles. 

 

2. Really REALLY focusing on using muscles to support your joints instead of using joints to support your muscles. To put it differently, you can move into any position by locking your joints at their end range of motion, which for those of us who are more bendy than strong, is a natural tendency. Learning how to actually use your muscles to move into a position and to hold that position (even if its standing or sitting) is, for me, something that's taken years and is an ongoing process. F1 is helping more than anything I've ever done (I'm doing it in combo with weight training). 

 

3. Collagen supplements really help.

 

4. There's a herb called Solomon's Seal. Its an American native plant, and I don't know where you are, but if you're here in the US its quite easy to come by online. Its *amazing* for ligament and tendon injuries, looseness, dryness. How it does this, I have no idea, but it works. I've seen it work for probably 50 odd people now (martial artists and yogis for the most part). While it most likely won't fix the underlying issue, it could probably help a great deal. 

Thanks for the replies everyone! I'm feeling a bit more confident about this issue now and I will also look into some of these collagen supplements.

Just to be clear, joint laxity and joint instability are two different things.  Laxity means the ligaments are looser or more stretchy than normal, but they are not necessarily unstable.  Unstable joints are at risk of greater injury, i.e. a knee joint with a torn ACL is by definition an unstable joint.