Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group How many started w/ bad posture?

How many people here started with bad posture? I mean, before you had any symptoms of AS?

Examples - slouching, forward head posture, frequently sitting in slumping positions, too much time at computer, near-sighted (thus tend to stretch forward while driving and reading), etc. Perhaps even sleeping w/ neck stretched forward?

I haven't asked the rheumy about this, but I'm stunned by how many articles I've read recently that claim forward head posture causes arthritis, constipation/bowel disorder, and degeneration of the disks. I began to wonder, could misalignment trigger a downhill spiral? Being very tall, slender, and near-sighted, I definitely slouched terribly as a teen (and still do as an adult).

Thanks for any info!

Me.I have always had horrible posture!
Shauna

Posture has always been a fight for me.
ETTE.
Darrel.

Posture went to crap as the disease progressed.
In a few years I will be able to audition for a rendition of the Hunchback of Notre Dame if this back if mine keeps curving.

Always had a bad posture

This is interesting to me:

How many people with AS had bad posture habits BEFORE any sign of symptoms?

Could this cause spondylitis? Isn't spondylitis just another name for arthritis of the spinal cord? Could our slouching misalignments cause this? Has anyone ever talked to their rheumy about this or ever questioned it?

"The Mayo Clinic Health Letter Volume Eighteen, #3, in March of 2000 reported “F.H.P. (Forward head posture) leads to long term muscle strain, disc herniations, arthritis and pinched nerves."

http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/529
"A forward head posture is also a factor for many people. An average head weighs 12 to 15 pounds; when that weight sits forward of the central line of the spine, the muscles on the back of the neck have to work very hard to hold the head up against the pull of gravity. Whether due to stress or poor head-neck alignment, chronic tightness in the levator scapulae and the upper trapezius can lead to significant neck pain. As the muscles pull down on the base of the skull and upper neck, they also pull up on the scapula. All this adds up to compression on the cervical vertebra. Such tightness and compression can lead to arthritis, cause nerve pressure that makes pain radiate down the arm, and increase the likelihood of neck muscle injuries."

In my case at least, AS created posture problems rather than the other way around.

For some reason I didn't respond to chronic back pain by slouching, so my physical therapist says my back posture is surprisingly good -- that it's better than most of her non-AS patients.

My main posture problem is SI fusing not fully extended, which makes me lean forward at the hips like I'm always walking into a stiff wind.

Not me, I had extremely good posture, although I have always been nearsighted. I fought the AS monster extremely hard as I slowly fused, and when it finally got to my neck I fused looking fairly straight ahead. Then I pulled a dumb stunt (lawnmower wreck) and broke my neck at the junction of C-6 and C-7. When it broke and let the tension off, and they installed the halo I wound up looking down at my feet, as that is how it lined up the best. I have always regretted not pushing for the surgery and steel plates.

as a teenager (way before AS probs and Dx) i was aware that i had a "hump" on the back of my neck. Its right at the CT junction. I can still stand up straight but have always chosen long hair to hide the "hump." the chiro has seen fhp in my cervical x-rays too, many yrs prior to Dx.

Interesting question, indeed!

D-

Shauna: love your new pics!!!

i do wonder if autoimmune inflammatory arthritis causes the change in poster or if the change in poster makes the inflammatory arthritis worse. i would agree that bad poster will contribute to osteoarthritis, but really don't know if it would cause inflammatory arthritis, i just can't imagine that, though i could be wrong. and while i can see that "bad" posture could definitely affect my back and neck, i have a hard time understanding how it could cause torn tendons or ligaments in my wrists or achilles heel pain. also, a lot of people with bad posture don't have an autoimmune inflammatory disease. so, i think it could contribute to some spinal arthritis, but find it hard to accept that it would cause an autoimmune disease. so, not sure if it was my posture or the inflammatory arthritis that came first?