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Rheumatoid spondylitis; Spondylitis; Spondylarthropathy
The disease starts with hip or low back pain that comes and goes and is worse at night, in the morning, or after inactivity.
Back pain may begin in the sacroiliac joints (between the pelvis and the spine) and involve all or part of the spine.
Pain may go away by bending over. You may not be able to fully expand your chest because of the involvement of the joints between the ribs.
Specific symptoms:
Goldman L, Ausiello DA. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007.
Sidiropoulos PI, Hatemi G, Song IH, et al. Evidence-based recommendations for the management of ankylosing spondylitis: systematic literature search of the 3E Initiative in Rheumatology involving a broad panel of experts and practising rheumatologists. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2008. 47(3):355-61.
Dagfinrud H, Kvien TK, Hagen KB. Physiotherapy interventions for ankylosing spondylitis. Cochrane Database, Syst Rev. 2008. (1):CD002822.