A medical review of studies regarding exercise and the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis appears in the March 2008 issue of the journal, Current Opinion in Rheumatology.

The review, entitled, "Rehabilitation in ankylosing spondylitis", concludes that, "This review demonstrates the importance of continued emphasis on exercise therapy [and] the need for a standardized approach to exercise therapy…"

Multiple studies have shown that correct exercise can have a prolonged benefit when used as part of the treatment regimen for AS. Click here to read the abstract.

From the January/February 2006 issue of our magazine, Spondylitis Plus, Bruce Clark, president of Clark Physical Therapy and Medical Liaison to the Ankylosing Spondylitis Association of British Columbia, Canada, offers the following advice regarding exercise:

• Balance rest with activity: "Your disease isn't the same all the time; if you're in a 'flare-up' and you overdo it, that would tend to be aggravating."
  
  
• Develop a schedule for your exercise regimen: "You need to develop a routine and once you develop that schedule, it just becomes second nature; you need to be exercising on a daily basis, preparing for exercise, and warming up is always helpful on a firm surface."
  
  
• Keep up with the range-of-motion exercises: "Range-of-motion exercises are light workouts that are not done with weights; however you take the body part through the full range of motion. For instance, if you are backing your vehicle into a parking space and you cannot check your blind spot, you'd better be doing some exercises to improve your range of motion."
  
  
• Recreational exercise in not a substitute for therapeutic exercise: "If you play golf-fine. Enjoy golf, but if you're got spondylitis, you'd better be doing your range-of-motion exercises for your neck, mid-back, low back, hips and shoulders; on a regular basis, work on all involved joints. Recreational exercise is great, but it is not a substitute for a specific spondylitis program."
  
  
• Invest in a good bed: "Your bed is terribly important. You spend one-third of your life in your bed. Live to the age of 90 and that's 30 years. Waterbeds are a liability. A firm surface and pillows will help to maintain good posture."
  
  
• Good posture is of paramount importance: "You are also at work one-third of the day. For example, if you are a computer programmer and your monitor is too low and your head uncomfortably juts forward, you can get into bad postural situations. Think tall; use mirrors; let your family assist you with good-posture reminders and if you notice someone is leaning toward 'roundness,' give them some assistance."
  
  
• Refrain from "jarring" exercise activities: "Swimming is a wonderful activity; tennis is not so wonderful. In the early disease stages, jarring activities are more likely to aggravate your back. There is no point in taking medications to try and rein in the inflammation and then going out and engaging in recreational exercises that exacerbate the problem; that's like pouring water and gasoline on a fire at the same time."
  
  
• Make good choices for yourself: "If you have a lot of stiffness, body contact sports are not a good idea. Keep yourselves from harm's way and preserve your ability to exercise. And always use common sense when choosing your activities."
  
  

An exercise DVD is now available and will be available online shortly. To order a copy today, please contact us. We also offer a free exercise brochure.

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