We all know that medical treatment for Ankylosing Spondylitis is limited. That’s why our doctors encourage us to develop habits that will help us to help ourselves.
Ankylosing Spondylitis is an inflammatory disease that most often affects tissues in and near the spinal column. Initially, sufferers experience lack of flexibility and range of motion; eventually, fusing of vertebrae can occur, creating a forward hunched posture and irreversible joint damage.
Yoga is a complementary treatment that can greatly help alleviate these and other symptoms of Ankylosing Spondylitis. Yoga increases flexibility and range of motion in the spine, helping to reverse the degenerative issues while improving physical strength and posture.
Yoga is a meditative form of exercise which eases emotional tension and stress while it promotes improvement in the physical tissues of the body. It increases range of motion, and decreases the pain and inflammation associated with Ankylosing Spondylitis.
Unfortunately, the pain of Ankylosing Spondylitis can leave you feeling like movement of any kind is the last thing you want to do. Yet if you resist motion and restrict movement as a means to avoid pain, you make the problem worse. By remaining sedentary, the symptoms intensify; tissues degenerate more rapidly and a stiffening and stagnation of these tissues creates more inflammation in the body, creating more and more chronic pain.
If you’re new to yoga as a complementary treatment, find a beginner’s class and get started. You don’t have to be flexible in order to begin; you will benefit from doing the gentle poses no matter what your current status or how advanced your condition.
The gentle movements of yoga are proven to reduce the pain and stiffness caused by inflammation surrounding the joints, as they increases oxygen and blood circulation to the inflamed areas. Increased oxygen and blood to the affected areas means more flexibility and less AS pain.
Peter