Ankylosing Spondylitis, back pain, spinal ache, shoulder pain, etc. pains to your back look synonyms of each other, i.e., we indicate back pains with any of the pain terms that are related to the back. But doing so means that you lack the knowledge of what those medical lexicons or jargons mean. Ankylosing spondylitis, also abbreviated as AS, is the inflammation in the joints of the spine. This is a type of arthritis.
In Ankylosing Spondylitis or AS, the joints where the spine and the pelvic girdle come in contact with each other are mostly affected. This condition can also make an impact on the areas when tendons and ligaments attach to bones. You may even suffer from inflammation in some other areas of your body, such as
- Shoulders
- Knees
- Ribs
- Eyes
- Hips
- Feet
- Jaw
- Bowel
Some other rare areas include the heart and the lungs. Even if it is sporadic for your heart and lungs to get affected, the inflammation is well capable of producing discomfort to your body.
Make sure that you go through the common ankylosing spondylitis symptoms so that you stay aware of your condition. To get rid of such uneasiness, you can either approach a doctor and follow the medication or else you can go for a natural treatment for AS.
Natural Remedies To Ankylosing Spondylitis Treatment
A perfect cure to the chronic AS is not known until now, so it is better to get some natural treatments along with the medicated procedures, or one can solely go for treating them naturally. Below are some amazing natural therapies that you can follow:
1. Stretches
There are unbelievably umpteen benefits of stretches that one can gain from. You must have already been recommended by your friends or family to stretch for Ankylosing Spondylitis treatment. It is a necessity to keep your body in movement to ensure that they stay pain-free. The gist of all this stretching is, it will keep your body flexible and less prone to pain.
Give more preference to doing stretches that involve your spine and lower back. You can add exercises such as trunk rotation, seated spinal twists, etc. to your daily routine.
Ankylosing Spondylitis2. Heat Therapy
To fight such pains, you can get heat therapies. You can apply a heated pad or warm water bag to the area where you feel the inflammation. The heat will help reduce the pain and would cut down stiffness. A jacuzzi, kind of warm bath, is also a great option that you can go for.
The one suffering from AS should prefer having warm baths mainly before exercise. Also, keep in mind that you should consult your doctor about heat therapy before actually going for this if you have any of the followings
- Diabetes
- deep vein thrombosis (DVT)vascular disease
- an open wound
- a skin condition, such as dermatitis
3. Cold Therapy
Whenever you accidentally hit your head or hands, what do you do? We usually rush towards our refrigerator, take some ice cubes, and then apply them to the injured, swollen area, correct? What do you think is the reason we all are habituated to go for ice cubes?
Applying an ice pack, cold gel pack, or a bag of frozen vegetables to painful joints is capable of reducing swelling as well as pain. Hence go for a cold therapy after exercise, they may help reduce inflammation. Note: If you have any issue with blood circulation, then before going for cold therapy, kindly consult the doctor. Also, for everyone, avoid applying ice to your body for more than 20 minutes at a time.
4. Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a unique treatment that one can go for Ankylosing Spondylitis treatment. This involves inserting very thin needles into your body. This is an alternate medicine and a key component of traditional Chinese medicines.
It is a pseudoscience which believes that poking your body with a needle activates the pain-relieving hormones. Acupuncture has a wide prevalence in the North American regions. The use of this technique is well accepted there. You can also give this a chance since they are not derogatory to your health.
5. Massage Therapy
Massaging is another mystical remedy that you can think about to survive with ankylosing spondylitis. Whenever you are stressed, or on the weekends, don’t you feel like approaching the masseur and getting an awestruck massage? Darn yeah!
Massaging overall rejuvenates and revitalizes your body by improving the blood circulation. They will leave you relaxed and easy. In very rare cases, Massage may cause pain at tender points around the spine. If such a situation occurs, then it is better to avoid those areas, and only use light massage techniques until the pain gets completely diminished.
6. Exercise
Even a kid would know the importance of exercise in one person’s health. This remedy is one such activity from your daily routine that you can depend upon to make the impacts of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) vanish from your body. They will definitely minimize the pain and will give you much comfort.
Prefer doing the exercises that involve stretches, such as Pilates, and yoga. They are the best to fight AS. To know about the best exercise that you should do, consult with the doctor or the physical therapist.
7. Quit Smoking
Smokers are the worst affected. Those who smoke have more chances or damaging their spines. Quitting smoking not only helps reduce AS damage but also improves your overall health. We know that smoking is one such extreme addiction that is the toughest of all to get rid of, but looking at the benefits you will get, it is worth making such efforts to bid adios to smoking.
To sum it all, there are many natural remedies that you can opt ankylosing spondylitis treatment. There are ample safe ways that are capable of making your pain go away.