I'm definitely a newbie here and don't want to claim to have all the answers, but I just finished reading a book which people with AS might find helpful. The title of the book is "Pain Free" and the author is Pete Egoscue.

The central idea of the book is that much pain is caused by misalignment of bones in the body. I realize that AS pain is also caused by inflammation, but he mentions AS in the book and claims (though I think he's going too far) that doing the exercises can prevent spinal fusion in AS.

There are exercises for different body parts. Since my neck pain is the most bothersome to me, I started out doing the exercises for the neck. Like most westerners, my head is too far forward putting excess strain on my neck. I knew that already, but didn't know how to fix it. It's really interesting because most of the exercises for the neck focus on the hips He claims that neck position is based in the hips. The first time I did the exercises, I checked my posture when I was standing with my heels, butt and shoulders against a wall and allowed my head to go where it went naturally. Your head should be touching the wall in that position, but mine was about three finger widths away. Next, I did the exercises which involved things like lying on the floor with my lower legs on the coffee table and lying with my legs up against the wall. Afterward, I checked my posture again and my head naturally went to less than on finger width from the wall without any effort on my part. In fact, my posture had changed so much that it effected my balance for the first few minutes. I do the exercises in the morning and find that the effect wears off as the day goes on, but every day my posture is better for a longer period of time. There is less stress on my neck muscles and the pain in my neck is diminishing.

There are also exercises for other body parts, like the back, knees, hips, etc.

Egoscue also has a website, www.egoscue.com

Since posture is so important in AS, I thought some people might find this helpful.

Karen

thanks for the info

sounds a little bit like pilates with help..

marnie

Karen, this site looks interesting. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Hugs,

Can't recomend that book enough. I had it recomended to me many years ago by a lady who had a horse for sale when I told her about my spinal problems. What a gift. Even if you can't do all the exercises, you can do SOME of them.

I'm glad you found the book helpful. I've been doing the neck exercises for about three weeks and my pain has diminished significantly. Additionally, my posture is MUCH better now without me really making a conscious effort to improve it. My body just naturally goes into a more correct position. I really don't understand how lying on the floor in the Egoscue poses causes such changes, but I'm happy they are happening.

I do Pilates also. Pilates has done a lot to strengthen my core muscles, but Egoscue is different as it's more about repositioning than strengthening.

For those who are interested, I found the book much more helpful than the website. There just wasn't enough information at the website. However, I still have some questions about the exercises and had hoped to find an Egoscuse-trained PT, but the closest one to where I live is 100 miles away. Bummer. I guess I'll just keep plugging away doing the exercises with the information I have.


Karen

First post and hopefully will put all of your joint pains into remission.
After my first 20 years of life with rheumatoid arthritis in both knees on and off after cortisone surgeries (maybe 6 altogether), it got to a point where I started having what I later realised were painful auto immune attacks in my hip, which after some internet research I believed to be AS. Through this website I discovered the No Starch Diet and felt that it reduced the auto immune attacks. Eventually I stumbled upon the following website that explained to me more about auto immune disorders than any doctor. http://www.biblelife.org/autoimmune.htm
Please read that entire diet program and understand Leaky Gut Syndrome and why the native human diet before the cultivation of grains and high carb vegetables is the answer to your digestive problems. This website stopped my auto immune attacks and Pete Egoscue's book, PAIN FREE: A REVOLUTIONARY METHOD FOR STOPPING CHRONIC PAIN is a MUST-READ. This book will stretch your musculoskeletal system back into perfect alignment and allow you to run again. You must regain your muscle memory and pull your bones into their original design. Please people, take this advice and may God bless you all.

Karen!! Hi!
Wow, what a great resource, thanks so much for sharing it! I will be checking this book out for sure! ::adjusting posture as I'm writing horrified by how my neck is drooping over my laptop::
: )