Woman's rare condition sees her hips crack 'like bowling balls being dropped'

It took a woman 22 years to be diagnosed with an incurable condition despite her hips making noises "like bowling balls being dropped."

Chloe Lawrence, a 24-year-old photographer from St Helens, began experiencing joint pain when she was 11, although she was a "normal, active kid." The pain would come as a sharp, shooting pain which could be caused even by laughing, and would then become a dull persistent ache.

Chloe was forced to miss two years of high school, bedbound with pain, and classmates even feared she had died. Despite the severity, doctors thought her symptoms were a growth spurt, or even anxiety, and told her to wait it out, the Liverpool Echo reports.

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Chloe's symptoms worsened, and she developed "flabby" skin around her ankles, which she thought was her gaining weight. But at 22, she was finally diagnosed with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.

According to the NHS, it is one of a group of inherited conditions affecting connective tissues that support skin, tendons, blood vessels, organs and bones, resulting in increased range of joint movement, stretchy skin, and fragile skin that breaks or bruises easily.

Chloe said: "I was so happy, because all these years I'd said to my mum, 'If I can finally get diagnosed with anything, it means I can get treated and there'll be a solution', and then we were told there's no treatment, just pain management."

There is no cure or treatment, but sufferers can benefit from physiotherapy to strengthen joints, to help prevent injuries. Ehlers-Danlos Support UK said: "EDS cannot be 'cured' but many people learn over time how to control it and live full and active lives. The day-to-day