While it mainly affects the neck and back, it can also cause pain and stiffness elsewhere in the body, including in the hips, shoulders and feet. We don't yet know what causes ankylosing spondylitis. To some extent it's related to your genes, but the condition isn't passed directly from a parent to their children.
Managing Foot Pain With Medications
“Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are usually the initial medication prescribed,” says Dr. Cotter. NSAIDs include over-the-counter drugs like ibuprofen and can help relieve pain caused by inflammation, per the Spondylitis Association of America (SAA).
Ankylosing spondylitis is a spondyloarthritis Overview of Spondyloarthritis Spondyloarthritis (also called spondyloarthropathy or spondyloarthritides) is a term used to describe a group of diseases that cause prominent joint inflammation, affect the spine and other... read more characterized by inflammation of the ...
Ankylosing spondylitis may affect more than the spine. The disease may inflame joints in the pelvis, shoulders, hips and knees, and between the spine and ribs. People with AS are more prone to spinal fractures (broken vertebrae).
ankylosis, in medicine, stiffness of a joint as the result of injury or disease. The rigidity may be complete or partial and may be due to inflammation of the tendinous or muscular structures outside the joint or of the tissues of the joint itself.
AS can cause inflammation in not only joints, but also in entheses - points where ligaments and tendons attach to bones. Inflamed entheses result in enthesitis, and a common location for this problem in people with AS is the heel.
The main clinical manifestations are spinal stiffness and inflammatory back pain, which can potentially affect gait ability of patients with ankylosing spondylitis.
The first human leukocyte antigen (HLA) haplotype association with human inflammatory disease was discovered in 1972, correlating HLA-B27 with ankylosing spondylitis. This remains one of the strongest known associations of this disease with HLA-B27.
Lack of Exercise Worsens Stiffness
“A sedentary lifestyle will worsen the stiffness and decreased mobility and flexibility that accompany ankylosing spondylitis,” says Waseem Mir, MD, the founder of New York Integrative Rheumatology and a rheumatologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
Inflammation Uncontrolled systemic (body-wide) inflammation is the factor that best predicts fatigue in AS. Cell messengers called cytokines that are part of the inflammatory process may cause the sensation of fatigue, and inflammation can also cause anemia (inadequate red blood cells), which also causes fatigue.
Osteoporosis and spinal fractures
In AS osteoporosis can develop in the spine and increase your risk of fracturing the bones in your backbone. The longer you have the condition, the more this risk increases. If you do develop osteoporosis, you'll usually need to take medicine to help strengthen your bones.
Back pain and stiffness are usually the main symptoms of AS. You may find: the pain gets better with exercise, but does not improve or gets worse with rest. the pain and stiffness is worse in the morning and at night – you may wake up regularly during the night because of the pain.
Ankylosing spondylitis causes chronic pain that can come and go. You might experience periods of flares and stiffness, and other times when you don't feel pain as acutely. The symptoms may ease up or disappear for a period of time, but they ultimately return.
U.S. FDA Approves Pfizer's XELJANZ® (tofacitinib) for the Treatment of Active Ankylosing Spondylitis.
Types of AS Flares
Generalized flares are more severe and may affect multiple parts of the body. In addition to the above symptoms, they also include flu-like illness (fever, sweating); hot, burning joints; muscle spasms; and more sensitivity.
Ankylosing spondylitis is an autoimmune disease and is a type of arthritis of the spine. It causes swelling between your vertebrae, which are the disks that make up your spine, and in the joints between your spine and pelvis. The disease is more common and more severe in men. It often runs in families.
Symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis
The symptoms of AS can vary, but usually involve: back pain and stiffness. pain and swelling in other parts of the body – caused by inflammation of the joints (arthritis) and inflammation where a tendon joins a bone (enthesitis)
In some cases, ankylosing spondylitis can be debilitating and lead to disability, according to the SAA. Over time, the inflammation associated with ankylosing spondylitis can cause the vertebrae of the spine to fuse together. In severe cases, when this happens, the spine can curve and cause a stooped position.
HLA-B27 gene variant
Research has shown more than 8 out of 10 people with AS carry a particular gene variant known as human leukocyte antigen B27 (HLA-B27). Having this gene variant does not necessarily mean you'll develop AS.
What causes it? And who is at risk? There is no known specific cause. Ankylosing spondylitis is relatively rare, affecting about 1 in 1,000 people.
Joint stiffness with ankylosing spondylitis typically worsens with lack of movement, especially upon waking in the morning.
It is a rare disease, there is no cure, and you will end up in a wheelchair.
At this time, no single test diagnoses ankylosing spondylitis. Your doctor may order a blood test to check for the HLA-B27 gene, which is present in most people with the disease. You may have the HLA-B27 gene and never develop ankylosing spondylitis, but it can give doctors more information when making a diagnosis.