What Are the Symptoms?
Not everyone develops all of the following symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis, arthritis of the spine. What you experience depends on the severity of the condition:
- Stiffness and pain in the lower back, buttocks, and hips upon waking in the morning or after a period of inactivity
- Back pain relieved by movement and exercise
- Difficulty bending the spine
- Pain in the hips and difficulty walking
- Pain in the heels and soles of the feet
- Pain in the jaw, the temporomandibular joint (TMJ)
- Bent-over posture
- Straightening of the normal curvature of the spine
- Loss of appetite, weight loss
- Fatigue, decreased energy
- Eye swelling, redness, and pain
- Sensitivity to light
- Difficulty taking a deep breath (because expanding the chest is difficult and painful)
- Heart failure
- Heart block (problems with the flow of the electrical impulses that control your heart muscle)
- Bowel inflammation like Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis
Call Your Doctor About Ankylosing Spondylitis If:
You develop symptoms such as persistent lower-back pain, especially if it is stiff in the morning but improves with movement and exercise
You have redness or swelling in the eye, or are abnormally sensitive to light; you could have iritis, a condition commonly associated with ankylosing spondylitis.
