Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group How do you walk?

I was waiting to drop some papers off yesterday. The waiting room was packed and there were lots of screaming children running around. I did not notice it until someone ask me if I was sick. They observed me walking and apparently my whole body was stiff and my shoulders were hunched up.

I really try to be conscious of this because I know it adds to the pain. Perhaps it was a reaction to stress and nothing more.

Several years ago (when I was still working) one of the truck drivers ask me if I had a h**d on---literally my whole body (sorry, I don't mean to offend anyone) then he said err umm I mean your whole body is stiff. What is wrong with you?

Another thing I notice is that I am walking with my legs farther apart rather than closer together. This is very embarrassing because it looks like I have something stuck you know where.

I'm just curious how you view yourself in this regard and also how others view you.

Thanks so much, Phil

Phil,

I have noticed that I walk stiff a lot of the time. As my AS is not very advanced I don't really hunch much, though. I also don't have the ballance I used to, but that might be the medications. I do also notice that my shoulders are more forward than they used to be.

Daniel


Keep on keepin on Kicking some AS

I walk with a wider gait. I notice it more at night for some reason.





Susie

Interesting timing for this post, for quite a while now I had adopted the stiff gaited walk, because my lower back (SIs) were always in an uproar and I wanted to move my hips as little as possible. Yesterday when I dropped Sugar off at the vet a tech there who has RA asked me if I was feeling better because I was walking so normally! I've been on Arava for six weeks now and it has reduced the pain and stiffness to the point where people notice now that I'm walking fine whereas they used to notice my walking because it seemed so stiff and uncoordinated. I also have noticed that I'm standing up straighter, not that hunched position I found myself slipping into due to the pain that walking caused, even with a cane.

Cheryl

Dogs hate rainy days too

Phil,
Thats an interesting one - I used to walk like my whole back was a plank of wood - in the last couple of months I've been working on a set of exercises morning and night which frees up muscle stiffness in the middle back wich allows your lower half to rotate easier, and also puts the right curve back into the spine which helps the leaning forward part.

Every time I stand up - whether at a desk at work, sat in front of the tv or having driven the car I consciously lean back to straighten up before I start walking anywhere. It seems to help.

I think at one point when I was bad I used to waddle like a duck - but I'm bow legged anyway - probably plaing too much hockey when I was younger... I think it looks more like a swagger now but that can't be helped!

Cheers
Jo

Recently some relatives, who only see me occasionally, told how they remembered being shocked when they saw me back in about '77. I was 30 years old and they saw an old man walking hunched up. They didn't say anything because they didn't want to upset me. It was about that time I was referred to a rheumy clinic. A professor made me walk up and down in front of a class of postgraduate students and then proceeded to rollock me for getting into such a condition. Unfair maybe, but useful. I was told, among other things, to lie face down on the floor for half hour every day to stop my back going over. It was as agonising at first as getting out of bed but it did the trick - I fused straight, infinitely better than hunched over. And I would recommend laying face down like that to anyone with AS, no matter how painful at first.

41F / 5C

todays water temperature in the Serpentine

I haven't been able to walk without a limp for years, even before the pain got out of hand. Now, I walk like a large, crippled duck.

Hugs,

Cindy

Well, at least I know I'm not alone wondering if I have something stuck up my bu**. I try to push my shoulders back at least 4 times a day and hold that position for about 30 seconds X4 or 5. One of the exercises PT gave me.

For the lower back pain I have been laying on a heating pad and pulling my legs up in a curl. It really helps.

What scares me is the flare up thing. I think it was Cindy that said she had been in a flare up for 6 months. I had no idea they lasted that long. I'm sleeping an average of 4 or 5 hours a night.

Don't take me seriously but I often wish I had a scalpul (sp?) so that I could reach as far back as possible and just cut through all of those muscles and nerves.

It almost seems like I would have less pain.

I'm ready for more steroids.

Phil

Hi Cheryl,

Speaking of animals I just took my cat in for an exam and her vaccinations. She's getting her teeth cleaned next year.

We have to take care of our children!!

Phil

I think that flare of mine which started in '77 lasted about 4 or 5 years but the pain lessened as the fusing progressed. It was when I was put on sulfasalazine EN in the early 80's that my ESR started to drop, and has been normal since doing the LSD (diet). Stretching / mobility exercises give me a reasonable range of movement, one of which is trying to push myself up while laying face down. Don't get very far though, about 6 inches, probably the hip joints and a little from the neck. Swimming is the best strengthener though.

41F / 5C

todays water temperature in the Serpentine