Ankylosing spondylitis exercise methods and precautions

Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic progressive inflammatory disease that primarily affects the spine and the sacroiliac joints and surrounding joints. This disease is also known as rheumatoid spondylitis, central rheumatoid arthritis, etc., and is now called AS. So what are the exercise methods and precautions for ankylosing spondylitis?

Several ways of health care exercise for ankylosing spondylitis:

1. Stretching exercises on the bed:

When you wake up in the morning, lie on your back with your arms stretched over your head in both directions of your fingers and toes. Relax after you feel satisfied with the stretch. Stretch your legs with your heels down and your feet bent toward your knees until you feel satisfied, then relax. Repeat this several times.

2. Knee-chest exercise:

Lie on your back with your feet on the bed and bend your knees; lift one knee and slowly bend it towards your chest, hold your knee with both hands, and pull it towards your chest until you are satisfied. Return your feet to the original position and do the above exercise with the other knee. Repeat once for each knee and relax; hold both knees with both hands once until the stiffness disappears.

3. Cat back exercise:

Kneel prone like a cat, lower your head and relax as much as possible while arching your back like a bow until you are stretched to your satisfaction; return to the original position, bend your back, tilt your head back and lift your hips to stretch as much as possible until you are stretched to your satisfaction.

4. Abdominal exercise:

The goal is to stretch the abdominal muscles to improve strength and maintain a straight torso posture. Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet on the ground and your arms at your sides: slowly raise your head and shoulders until your hands touch your knees; hold for seconds and then return to the original position. Repeat the above movement times.

5. Rotational exercise:

Sit down, bend your arms, raise your hands horizontally, cross your hands, turn to the right, look at your right elbow, hold for seconds, then return to the starting position and repeat times on each side.

6. Neck rotation exercise:

Sit with your feet on the ground, turn your head to the left or right, and look at the shoulder on the same side, then restore. Repeat times on each side. You can also flex your neck forward and lean your chin towards your chest as much as possible to restore; tilt your head back as far as possible to restore, and repeat times in each direction.

7. Chest expansion exercise:

The goal is to stretch the upper chest and shoulder muscles to maintain or improve chest and back posture. Stand facing the corner with your feet shoulder-width apart and your hands supported on the two walls. Exhale deeply, push your shoulders forward and stretch your head and upper back. Hold for seconds, return to the original position, and repeat times.

During exercise, patients with ankylosing spondylitis should pay attention to tilting their head back and flexing their neck. They should tilt their head back as far as possible, continue to exert force until the muscles are fatigued, increase the backward angle, continue to exert force for 2-3 minutes, and slowly return to the original position. Bend your neck to the right and move your head as far to the right as possible. Continue to exert force until the muscles are fatigued. Increase the angle of your head lowering, continue to exert force for 2-3 minutes, and slowly return to the original position. If it is left flexion of the neck, move the head to the left as far as possible, continue to exert force until the muscles are fatigued, increase the angle of lowering the head, continue to exert force for 2-3 minutes, and slowly return to the original position.

Things to note in daily life

Maintaining correct body posture and mobility is very important for patients with ankylosing spondylitis to prevent the occurrence of hunchback. The occurrence and development of hunchback is so slow that it is difficult to detect, so it is extremely important to pay attention to daily body posture to maintain good posture. Always think about keeping your body upright. No matter you are walking, sitting, standing or lying down, remember to keep your body upright. Sit on a chair with an upright back, not on a sofa; do not sit on a reclining chair that is too low or too soft, and especially avoid sitting on a reclining chair. You should insist on sleeping on a hard bed, without a pillow or using a thin pillow, which will help keep your body straight. Sleeping on your back is better than lying on your side. For early stage patients, lying prone once in the morning and once in the evening for half an hour each time can help reduce trunk flexion. When standing, you can usually put your heels on the wall, straighten your knees, lean your shoulders and back against the wall, and look straight ahead. The patient's headrest often cannot touch the wall, so you should lean back as much as possible. Hold for 5 seconds, relax, and then do it a few more times.

Swimming is a whole-body exercise that is beneficial to the spine and limb joints. Therefore, it is a good exercise method for patients who have mastered swimming, but cold water should be avoided.