29 Mar 2024

Blog Post

Health

Learn More About Ankylosing Spondylitis 

An inflammatory disease that can cause small bones in your body to fuse, such as your spine and ribs, is called ankylosing spondylitis. If it does occur in your ribs, you could experience difficulty breathing, while if it happens to your spine it can cause a hunched posture.

Whatever the case might be, if you are experiencing any kind of pain or you have a hunched back in your adulthood, you should talk to your doctor. Visit ankylosing spondylitis specialist in Brisbane at arthritisCARE if you are interested, or simply schedule a consultation with your local doctor.

Ankylosing spondylitis can cause a lot of pain and stiffness

What are the symptoms?

Some of the earliest signs and symptoms of this condition include stiffness and pain in the hips and lower back, especially after you have been inactive for a long time, like getting up in the morning. Experiencing neck pain and fatigue is also rather common.

The areas that are often affected are:

  • The vertebrae in the lower back.
  • The hips and shoulder joints.
  • The place where the ligaments and tendons attach to the bones, such as the spine, or the back of the heel.
  • The cartilage between the ribs and the breastbone.
  • The joint between the pelvis and the base of your spine.

What causes ankylosing spondylitis?

Ankylosing spondylitis does not have a specific cause. However, genes play a big role, as patients with the HLA-B27 gene are a lot more likely to develop ankylosing spondylitis. With that said, just because you might have that gene, does not guarantee that you will surely develop this condition.

There are some risk factors you should learn more about as well. For example, your sex plays a role as well. Men are a lot more likely at developing ankylosing spondylitis than women. The signs will often appear first in the late adolescence or early adulthood.

There are some forms of arthritis that have very similar symptoms as ankylosing spondylitis. For example, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis both cause swelling, pain and stiffness in the joints. If you are interested, you can check out the psoriatic arthritis treatment in Brisbane performed by arthritisCARE or simply talk to your doctor.

Psoriatic arthritis has very similar symptoms to ankylosing spondylitis

As a defense and healing mechanism, new bones could be formed. These new bones will eventually fuse the sections of your vertebrae, causing it to become stiff and inflexible. If your rib cage also gets fused, the capacity of your lungs will be limited, and thus you can experience difficulty breathing.

Final word

There are a lot of things you should know about this condition, and you should visit your doctor as soon as possible, if you are experiencing any of the symptoms. Visit a good doctor, schedule an appointment, and have an open talk about all the health-related issues you might have or visit Best Find Shop. If the condition goes untreated, it can cause a lot of permanent damage.

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