Ankylosing spondylitis is an inflammatory condition that mainly affects the spine that causes progressive stiffness and pain. It is a part of seronegative spondyloarthropathies of condition that are related to the HLA B27 gene. The other conditions in this group are things like reactive arthritis and psoriatic arthritis.
The major joints that are affected in ankylosing spondylitis are the sacroiliac joints and the joints of the vertebral column.
The inflammation causes pain and stiffness in these joints, and they progress a fusion of the joint. As a result, the fusion of the spine leads to the classical finding on the x-ray of a bamboo spine.
Ankylosing spondylitis will have this HLA B27 gene; however, only around 2% of people who have the gene will develop ankylosing spondylitis.
What is Ankylosing Spondylitis
There is no cure for ankylosing spondylitis, but treatments can decrease their pain and lessen their symptoms. According to the Mayo Clinic, it is an inflammatory disease which causes vertebrae in the spine to combine or join together. This makes the spine less supple and can result in a bend forward posture. If it affected the ribs, there might be a problem in deep breathing. Over time, the symptoms can get worst or improve completely at irregular intervals.
The patient should seek medical attention if they are suffering from low back or buttock pain that came on slowly. It is worst in the morning as it wakes them up from their sleep in the middle of the night.
Exceptionally this pain improves with daily exercise and worsens with rest. It affects males about three times more often than females. Symptoms usually develop moderately over more than three months. The pain is worst at night; the patient describes how it takes at least 30 minutes for the stiffness to improve in the morning. The stiffness seems to get progressively better throughout the day as they do some movement and activities.
Ankylosing spondylitis does not just affect the spine; it can also affect the other organ systems and cause things like systemic symptoms. Symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue it can present with chest pain related to the Costovertebral joints and the Costosterval joints. You can use the symptom tracker app to track the symptoms for Ankylosing Spondylitis.
How do you test for ankylosing spondylitis
Ankylosing spondylitis is a slow onset disease. Sometimes even the patient does not know that he has a disease for years together. It starts with being a random pain. It may be neck pain, lower back pain or the middle of the back pain, sides of the chest on and off the pain. Sometimes it stays for one or two days and then disappears so patients usually neglect the symptoms but, gradually, the patient has got more and more pain.
More than the pain it is the stiffness, so morning stiffness is the path of mnemonic of the definite feature for this ankylosing spondylitis. When a patient gets up in the morning, he feels that his lower back or entire back, especially the lower back is totally stiff. This stiffness gradually disappears or decreases once they go for their normal routine activities, usually after some time, the pain comes down. They find difficulties while touching their toes or bending downwards to reach to grab some object; this is the major symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis.
For testing this disease, they have to go for some sort of investigation like x-rays, x-ray usually notice this narrowing of sclerosis in the sacroiliac joint that is the joint in the pelvis. This disease can be diagnosed by either blood examination or x-rays. In blood examination, the doctors can see that there is an increase PSR.
Some of these patients also have a hereditary connection in the form of a gene called HLA B27, so detection of that gene also will be helpful in diagnosing.
In x-rays, in the earlier stages, the doctor focuses on a sacroiliac joint so there will be narrowing of the sacroiliac joint.
When this disease advances, they can see the bamboo pattern; the entire spine gets turned into a single bone without intervening disks.
Shoulder test is a measurably use for ankylosing spondylitis to measure lumbar spine mobility. Standing at the correct position is very important.
Syndrome, Causes and Treatment
Ankylosing spondylitis is a set of arthritis of the spine. It causes swelling between the vertebrae, which are basically the building disks of the spine.
Ankylosing spondylitis is an immune disease. This disease is more usual and acute in men. It often runs in the family bloodline. Prior syndromes may commonly consist of back pain and stiffness. Overtime ankylosing spondylitis can limit their movement. These symptoms can either improve or worsen or in some cases even come to a halt. Although this disease is not a curable one, yet medicines can relieve the pain, swelling, and various other symptoms. Exercise may be extremely helpful too.
Inflammation in the ligaments can lead to moderate to significant to severe pain, and the severity of the ankylosing spondylitis varies from person to person. It is a lifelong chronic disease that can be managed. There can be a bacterial infection that can be present that cause these ligaments to be injured.
When they get injured, they get scar tissue, and then the scar tissue hardens, an x-ray of such a condition is called a bamboo spine. It looks like a big stalk of bamboo where the spine is, but it can affect many different joints, and it’s all related to the ligaments.
Treatments like chiropractic care, physical therapy, massage therapy, and acupuncture can help decrease symptoms and pain.
Conclusion
Although there is no proper cure for ankylosing spondylitis, there are many trackers which help in tracking symptoms for this disease.
Pain Tracker application is used for tracking pain and manages pain for relief. They can track their pain and symptoms in a more detailed manner. They can view their progress with the help of Pain Tracker and can enjoy a new way of healthy living. Manage your pain and symptoms before it causes your health more damage.
