What Is Ankylosing Spondylitis?

It belongs to a broader group called axial spondyloarthritis. Inflammation can cause pain and stiffness, especially after rest, and may also involve the hips, shoulders, ribs, heels or other joints. Symptoms vary considerably between people.

The sacroiliac joints connect the lower spine to the pelvis. Ongoing inflammation there and along the spine can limit movement over time. Some people also develop enthesitis, which is inflammation where a tendon or ligament attaches to bone, often around the heel or chest wall.

Ankylosing spondylitis commonly presents with back pain and morning stiffness that improve with movement, but it can also present through joint swelling, fatigue, heel pain or reduced chest expansion. Eye inflammation, psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease can occur alongside it. A clinician uses the symptom pattern, examination, blood tests and imaging together; no single symptom or test settles every case.

Arrange a medical assessment if stiffness or pain keeps returning, wakes you from sleep or improves once you start moving. Note which areas hurt, how long stiffness lasts after waking, whether activity helps and whether you have eye, skin or bowel symptoms. These details help distinguish inflammatory pain from other causes.

Management is tailored to symptoms and may combine prescribed anti-inflammatory medicine with physiotherapy and regular movement. A physiotherapist can adapt mobility, strengthening and posture work to your current function. Avoid starting or stopping prescription medicine without discussing it with the prescriber.

Seek urgent eye assessment for a painful red eye, marked sensitivity to light or blurred vision, because these can signal uveitis. Get urgent medical help after a fall or injury if new spinal pain is severe, or if you develop new weakness, numbness around the groin, loss of bladder or bowel control, chest pain or significant breathing difficulty.

Contact your usual clinician soon if symptoms are worsening despite treatment, a joint becomes hot and markedly swollen, or medicine causes concerning effects. Persistent symptoms without a diagnosis warrant assessment rather than repeated self-treatment.

Ask what features support an inflammatory cause, whether you need a rheumatology referral, and what examination or imaging would clarify the diagnosis. You can also ask which movements suit you, how treatment response will be monitored, and which eye, bowel or neurological symptoms require urgent attention.