Effective Exercises That Can Bring Relief to Ankylosing Spondylitis
5 minute read
While many people are familiar with the term arthritis, they may not know what ankylosing spondylitis is. This is a form of arthritis that affects the spine and is felt as pain in the lower back. If you have spinal pain with no known cause and it persists for some time, you may have ankylosing spondylitis.
Despite the intimidating name of this condition, it is not so intimidating to treat and there are natural supplements and exercises you can do to beat the pain.
How Exercise and Activity Affect Lower Back Pain
When it comes to any form of arthritis, the pain can be pretty severe at times. This is true for ankylosing spondylitis too and many avoid exercise as a result of the constant lower back pain. Inactivity is a mistake, though, as certain exercises have been shown to benefit the condition and help to relieve pain as well as promote mobility.
Walking
Short walks throughout the day are a great way to promote gentle movements in your life. Walking is not strenuous to your back and helps to improve circulation which will help reduce pain.
Ideally, you want to walk for thirty minutes a day, but you may need to work up to this gradually if your pain is more severe. Walk at a pace that you are comfortable with and only increase the time or pace when you feel ready.
Water Exercise
Swimming is a great cardiovascular workout, but it is even better for arthritis. Because the water helps support your weight, activities like swimming and water aerobics are ideal for exercising joints.
Water allows you to move with ease and without straining aching muscles and joints. Water is often used for therapy when it comes to inflammatory conditions like ankylosing spondylitis and will improve your mobility while reducing pain.
Focused Workouts
Exercises like tai chi, yoga, and Pilates are gentle ways to move your body while promoting strength at the same time. Arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis tend to keep us from moving, which can lead to weakened muscles and bones. These focused exercises with very deliberate movements allow you to rebuild strength, which will help prevent future joint damage.
Tai chi, yoga, and Pilates offer stretching as well to improve flexibility and mobility. With any of these exercises, be sure to start as a beginner and only work your way up as your pain decrease and mobility improves.
Bike Riding
Riding a bike can seem strenuous, but it is a very gentle form of exercise, especially on your joints. Whether you choose to hit the open road or use a stationary bike, you get similar overall benefits to joint health.
The act of sitting reduces the weight and pressure on your joints, so you can move with greater ease. There is less risk of inflammatory flare-ups, so you get to move without adding to your pain. When it comes to treating ankylosing spondylitis, it has been found that the most successful routines alternate between cycling and aquatic exercises.
Additional Support for Ankylosing Spondylitis
For the best results, you need to pair the right exercises with a high-quality supplement to combat inflammation. Anti-inflammatory medications may be the typical prescription, but there are more natural ingredients out there that provide similar benefits when it comes to arthritis pain.
Omega-3s are beneficial fatty acids known to possess strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. As a result, they make a good supplemental choice for reducing pain associated with ankylosing spondylitis.
| Related: How Taking the Omega-3s Could Save You From a Stroke |
Typically people reach for fish oil when they are looking for omega-3 supplements, but there is a better option out there. Krill oil offers the same beneficial fatty acids (DHA and EPA) with the added benefit of being in more potent doses.
The omega-3s in krill oil is also more bioavailable, which means they get to work in your body much faster. Krill oil has been clinically proven to reduce inflammation and oxidative damage, both of which are major players in arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. Krill oil contains astaxanthin, a powerful antioxidant compound not found in fish oil. This compound helps to reduce both inflammation and damage caused by free radicals.
Treating ankylosing spondylitis naturally is something you can manage. With exercises be sure to do any routine in moderation and never exert yourself or cause more damage. When choosing a supplement to relieve pain and boost joint health, be sure to choose one that contains clinically-proven ingredients.
The Bottom Line
Ankylosing spondylitis may sound scary, but it is a form of arthritis that can easily be managed. However, it is still important to identify the condition early, so treatment will be more effective.
There may not be a cure, but with the right exercises and supplemental support, you can relieve your back of severe inflammation and pain. This will get you moving around and back to enjoying your life to the fullest.
