About Isobel
May 2023 – Isobel is donating 10% for her book sales to the #EDS Society for #EDS Awareness month
https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/sponsored-resources/
Isobel Knight (born 1974)- originally comes from Oxford and is an established international author, having now published five books, ‘The Body Nobody Believed’ being her sixth. Knight began her publishing career with a poetry book called ‘The Skin Collection’ published in 2009. It is full of dark poetry, much of it on the theme of self-harm and depression. Knight is very passionate about promoting awareness of mental health.
Although initially having a BA Hons Ed, a primary teaching degree, Knight never went into teaching but instead pursued a career initially in arts administration and volunteer management before she then trained as a complementary health practitioner and learned Bowen Technique, an Australian soft-tissue therapy. Knight had a successful private practice spanning 15 years, until she medically retired in 2017. Between 2008-9, Knight did an MSc in Dance Science at Trinity Laban and later worked there as a member of staff and a practising Bowen Practitioner.
It was during her MSc that her interest began in hypermobility and the conditions then known as Hypermobility Syndrome and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (type III) – Hypermobility type, this is because so many dancers are very flexible, which is what hypermobile means – but there is so much more to the condition that can be desirable if the person is asymptomatic and can then span to be a somewhat devastating condition. Knight noticed that there were few published books on the topic, and her first edition book was accepted straight away by the international publishing house ‘Singing Dragon Press’. ‘A Guide to Living with Hypermobility Syndrome’ (2011) was turned into a 2nd Edition in 2015, only three years after the first edition, due to its popularity and because of updates to medical terminology. It is thought that a third edition of the same book, ‘A Guide to Living with Ehlers-Danlos (Hypermobility Type)’, might be considered in the near future. In the meantime, Knight also published another book on the topic of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which was intended more for medical professionals than patients, and this came out in 2013. After this, Knight was asked to write a book about The Bowen Technique, which, in the end, she chose to co-author with John Wilks and in 2014, ‘Using the Bowen Technique’ came out. After Isobel retired as a Bowen Practitioner she worked on two books simultaneously one is called, ‘The Body Nobody Believed’ and is a medical memoir, where she uses the techniques of Narrative Medicine to tell her story through each bodily system. This book is published with Amazon and came out in December 2022. Her next book, ‘The Patient Experience’ will also be published with Amazon and will come out in 2023. The book explores all aspects of being a patient including full details of hospital stays, surgery and a range of additional patient experiences.
Following her recent literary successes, Knight has not remained idle but was asked to concentrate on writing academic journal articles as Knight continues to work towards a PhD in Published Works in the Public Domain.
Published Books
- The Skin Collection (2009) with Mental Health publishers ‘Chipmunka Press’
- A Guide to Living with Hypermobility Syndrome – Bending without Breaking (2011). Singing Dragon Press
- A Multidisiciplinary Approach to Manging Ehlers-Danlos (Type III) – working with the chronic, complex patient (2013). Singing Dragon Press
- Using The Bowen Technique (2014). Knight co-authored a book with John Wilks to address complex and common conditions’. Singing Dragon Press.
- The Body Nobody Believed (2022) with Amazon Prohub
- The Patient Experience (2023 – in press) with Amazon Prohub – due out in autumn 2023
To Follow/Future Commissions
- A Guide to Living with Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder and hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome – eta (2025) with Singing Dragon Press
- A Practical Management book (title in progress) c(2025) with Singing Dragon Press
Knight has also written a number of papers on the Hypermobility Syndromes (now known as Spectrum Disorders) that can be found on Academia .edu
The Body Nobody Believed
Published 2022, Amazon Prohub
The book, ‘The body nobody believed’ was conceived after Isobel had endured years of disbelief as to her many health symptoms from the medical profession. Although Isobel had tried to turn such negatives into more positive self-help type books she wanted to tell her story completely ‘raw’ and so she turned to the academic model of ‘Narrative Medicine’ – story telling in medicine- and wanted to tell her story much more directly without numerous academic quotes, although she gives an initial academic explanation for this type of work, and there are related quotes throughout the book, but this book is a non-fiction story/memoir and starts in a way that shocked even Knight herself which she described as a ‘deliberate shock tactic’. The book is divided into bodily systems as chapters and then all that Isobel has experienced is gone through into detail, at times deeply graphical, even shocking and at times even disturbing (self-harm). Throughout the book we see Isobel at all ages from as a young child to the present day, and we can only intimate that the story is far from over.
Having read many of the doctors and nurses accounts of the NHS, Isobel Knight decided to write her own account, however she has achieved far more than experience of hospital, but provides great details of her many chronic medical conditions and the fight that she has had to be believed and to get the help she so badly needed. This book couldn’t come at a better time when the NHS is stretched to the very limits and with the massive changes our country faces in the face of Post-Brexit and Covid. Isobel tells the story of her body and all that she has endured. She aims her book at the general population at large, she expects many with health problems will find it particularly resonates. Isobel also hopes that the book reaches all medical professionals from Healthcare assistants through to physiotherapists, psychotherapists, doctors, nurses surgeons and even MPs.
Using the Bowen Technique
Isobel Knight & John Wilks. 2014, Singing Dragon Press.
A Multidisciplinary Approach to Managing Ehlers-Danlos (Type III) – Hypermobility Syndrome: Working with the Chronic Complex Patient
Working with the chronic, complex patient. 2013, Singing Dragon Press
Ehlers Danlos-Hypermobility Syndrome is a challenging condition which is often misunderstood and misdiagnosed. This book looks at how physiotherapy can provide effective and lasting relief for sufferers. The book explains how EDHS is diagnosed and how a physical assessment of the patient should be carried out. It shows how physiotherapy can systematically work through the body inside out to relieve symptoms commonly associated with EDHS such as muscle weakness, chronic pain, sleep disorders and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). From the perspectives of physiotherapist and patient, the authors reflect on how and why they managed to achieve a vastly improved quality of life for Isobel. They highlight the importance of considering every aspect of a patient’s lifestyle, as well as the neurological elements and psychological impact of the condition, and how holistic treatments can be incorporated in the treatment plan. There is also guidance on how to monitor and chart symptoms, and set realistic goals in order to navigate a treatment program that works for the patient. This book will be essential reading for physiotherapists working with EDHS, and will be of interest to medical students, complementary therapists, psychologists, dance scientists, dancers and occupational therapists.
A Guide to Living with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (Hypermobility Type) – Second Edition
A Guide to Living with Hypermobility Syndrome – Bending without Breaking. 2011 Singing Dragon Press
“What Isobel Knight brings to the literature [on Hypermobility Syndrome] is something appealing and unique… This is a book for anyone who wants to understand the personal impact of Hypermobility Syndrome, as much as its clinical presentation and management without all the medical jargon.”
Extract from the foreword by Dr Alan J Hakim, Consultant Rheumatologist and Acute Physician, Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust, London UK.
Isobel’s book – A Guide to Living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (Hypermobility Type) is now published in a Second Edition and available to buy online. A Guide to Living with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (Hypermobility Type) – Second Edition.
The Skin Collection
Isobel Knight 2009 with Mental Health publishers ‘Chipmunka Press’
The Skin Collection was initially based upon six poems that were to do with self-harming behaviour in the form of skin-picking. As Isobel developed confidence she begun to use poetry to help describe the desperateness of her depression and mood-swings. Isobel finally found a way of using words to put a voice to some very difficult feelings that were not only very confusing but also very destructive.
