A reader with ankylosing spondylitis asks: How effective is physical therapy for ankylosing spondylitis? Here’s our advice.
Ankylosing spondylitis is a form of inflammatory arthritis. It primarily affects the joints and ligaments in the spine and in the sacroiliac area (where the spine connects to the pelvis). The severity of ankylosing spondylitis varies greatly from one person to another. The most prominent initial symptoms are low back pain and stiffness in the spine and hips.
For people with ankylosing spondylitis, exercise is essential to maintain and improve posture, spinal mobility, and chest expansion. Exercise also helps reduce pain and keeps abdominal and back muscles strong.
In fact, a recent review of 11 studies involving 763 people with the ankylosing spondylitis indicates that physical therapy involving some type of exercise is helpful. The findings, which were reported in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, found that individual and supervised exercise programs improved spinal mobility.
For example, ankylosing spondylitis patients who took part in a supervised home program had less pain and more improved posture and function than those who did not exercise. Group exercise -- three hours a week of strengthening, stretching, aerobics, sports, and water therapy -- improved spinal movement and overall wellbeing more than home exercise. Researchers surmise that group support and sociability may have enhanced improvement.
Spa therapy plus group exercises trumped weekly group exercise, improving pain and wellbeing. And an experimental exercise group that addressed posture and disease-shortened muscles made significant improvement in spinal mobility compared with a conventional exercise group. The bottom line: If you have ankylosing spondylitis, exercise can help mobility, pain, and wellbeing, no matter what type you choose.
