According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Disease, ankylosing spondylitis is a type of arthritis of the spine that causes swelling between your vertebrae (the disks that make up your spine) and in the joints between your spine and pelvis. Ankylosing spondylitis is an autoimmune disease, which means your immune system, which normally protects your body from infection, attacks your body's own tissues. The disease is more common and more severe in men, and often runs in families.
A chronic inflammatory type of arthritis that targets the spine and sacroiliac joints, ankylosing spondylitis is also known as rheumatoid spondylitis.
Spondylitis Symptoms
Hip or low back pain and stiffness are sometimes early spondylitis symptoms; the pain may worsen at night, in the morning, or after a period of inactivity.
The disease most often develops in people between the ages of 20 and 40, but has been diagnosed in children as young as ten.
Other symptoms may include eye inflammation, a general level of fatigue, heel and/or neck pain, and a limited ability to expand the chest (because of compromised joints between the ribs). People with ankylosing spondylitis may also experience loss of appetite, weight loss, and a slight fever.
Symptoms are unpredictable, and have been know to worsen, improve, or stop altogether over time.
Anklyosing Spondylitis Treatment
Although there is no cure for ankylosing spondylitis, pain relief is available through medications, which can also address swelling and joint pain (especially in the shoulders, knees, and ankles) associated with the condition.
Spondylitis symptoms are treated with three major types of medication:
• Anti-inflammatory drugs (such as aspirin, ibuprofen, etc.) and occasionally some opioid analgesics to provide pain relief and reduction of joint inflammation;
• DMARDS (disease modifying antirheumatic drugs), which work by suppressing the body’s immune response; and
• TNFa blockers (TNFa stands for tumor necrosis factor-alpha), which also impacts the body’s immune response.
And as with other forms of arthritis, exercise is considered a highly effective way of addressing symptoms. Especially recommended are physical therapy, swimming, and slow-movement stretching exercises such as yoga, tai chi, Pilates, or qigong, which have also been shown to be effective for treating rheumatoid arthritis pain.
Progression of Ankylosing Spondylitis
As the condition progresses over time, ankylosing spondylitis may cause your vertebrae to fuse together, with a result of limited movement.
Resources for Ankylosing Spondylitis
Arthritis Foundation
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
