Treatment of ankylosing spondylitis in women

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

The symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis can be varied. In women, the signs are often not very characteristic of this disease, which makes it difficult to quickly make a correct diagnosis. Not only the joints of the spine are affected, but also internal organs, such as eyes, heart, lungs. So what is this ankylosing spondylitis? In women, symptoms and characteristics are more subtle, but treatment is the same as for men.

Symptoms in women

The disease is also called otherwise - ankylosing spondylitis. One of the first symptoms is aching back pain radiating to the buttocks - usually dull and systematically worsening.

Appears after 40 years, does not go away at rest, worse in the morning and often causes insomnia and awakening. She leaves when the patient begins to move and play sports. In women, the first sign of the disease is often pain in the cervical spine.

All patients also have systemic symptoms:

• an increase in temperature;
• chronic fatigue and weakness;
• loss of appetite.

Ankylosing spondylitis is often found in women and has characteristic symptoms. Treatment depends on the course of the pathology. Sometimes doctors cannot understand exactly what this is happening to the patient and cannot make an accurate diagnosis. The ailment can begin with pain not only in the spine, but also, for example, in the knee, hip or ankle joints. Sometimes patients develop inflammation of the tendons and ligaments that come into contact with the bone.

As the disease progresses, pain and stiffness affect more and more parts of the spine. The stiffness of the cervical segment makes it difficult to turn the head back. Changes in the chest area usually cause breathing problems, and the pain increases with sneezing and coughing.

Ankylosing spondylitis in women with an advanced form of the disease, which is less and less common, is accompanied by dangerous symptoms. The spine completely loses its elasticity and requires specific treatment.

To understand what it is, it is enough to look at the patient's appearance: the patient has a characteristic tilt, which makes it difficult for her to look ahead and move. Deformity and contracture of the hip and knee joints is common.

Inflammation and stiffness can also affect the joints of the lower jaw and the small joints of the arms and legs. This form of the disease affects about 30% of patients, including women. It should be noted that the spine in such people is very sensitive and therefore more prone to sprains and fractures.

Not only joints

As the pathology develops, diseases of the internal organs also arise. Every third patient, including women, develops uveitis, accompanied by severe pain, redness of the eyes, photosensitivity and problems with good vision. This is a serious medical condition that urgently needs treatment as it can lead to blindness. Inflammation of the eyes often overtakes other symptoms of the disease.

Ankylosing spondylitis also attacks the digestive tract in women. Many patients develop ulceration of the intestinal mucosa, which is difficult to recognize because it has no symptoms. All this makes it difficult to recognize the disease, to accurately determine what it is and how to deal with it.

Rheumatologists believe this may be due to the frequent use of pain relievers and anti-inflammatory drugs during treatment. The disease also threatens the heart, sometimes leading to the development of atherosclerosis and its complications, such as coronary heart disease. Aortic valve regurgitation, impulse electrical conduction disturbances, or pericarditis and aortitis may also occur.

As a result of taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), as well as in connection with the disease itself, kidney damage can occur. Patients who smoke cigarettes often develop pulmonary fibrosis, which makes breathing difficult.

Treatment methods

Faced with ankylosing spondylitis, women have thoughts of what it is and how to deal with it. Symptoms may vary slightly. Treatment depends on the severity of the disease, its form and concomitant diseases.

Rehabilitation, regular exercise that reduces disability, is an extremely important part of therapy. Medication is also important, but difficult cases require surgery.

Non-pharmacological treatments include doing home exercises that reduce pain and maintain correct posture. Chest volume training (deep breaths) and stretching are important exercises. The appropriate exercise should be tailored by the physiotherapist to the individual for each patient. Physical therapy can also improve health.

Patients are advised to swim, thermotherapy, ultrasound, massage, balneotherapy and electrotherapy - these treatments help relieve pain and relax muscles. The procedures, like the exercises, are selected individually.

Drug treatment

The most commonly used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which reduce pain and stiffness in the spine, improve spine function. In order for the effect of treatment to be complete, drugs are prescribed for 6 weeks at regular intervals and in sufficiently high doses.

Unfortunately, these agents have many side effects, for example, they increase the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding. They must be taken with medicines that protect the stomach lining.

Having figured out what symptoms are accompanied by ankylosing spondylitis and what it is, you should start choosing a treatment. There are no significant differences in the choice of drugs among women. At the same time, natural remedies, including homeopathy, are highly effective in relieving pain and stiffness, thereby improving the patient's quality of life.

However, there are too few studies showing that these drugs stop and heal the disease. The indication for their use is the high activity of the disease, despite the treatment of NSAIDs. These medicines, like all other medicines, also have side effects.

Adjuvant therapy is the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, taking - in accordance with the doctor's recommendations - analgesics. Sometimes patients are given topical steroids to the site where the inflammation has developed. Steroids are also used to treat inflammation.

Surgical treatment includes implantation of a hip or knee endoprosthesis to replace the diseased and deformed joint. Surgeries improve joint function and relieve pain. Spine surgery is performed on people who develop neurological symptoms (severe tingling, numbness, paresis) caused by instability or a fracture of the spine.

Some patients are being treated to improve the axis of the spine - most often they affect the lumbar spine.

Forecast

The course of ankylosing spondylitis in women is very individual. Slow types are observed, which over the years gradually lead to damage to the spine, without affecting other joints. There are also extremely aggressive options that can lead to serious disability.

In the early stages of the disease, it is extremely difficult to determine what form the disease will take, and this is important because aggressive forms of the disease require aggressive treatment.

Among the numerous prognostic factors, that is, those that speak of the course of the disease, the worst prognosis has the following option: an early age of the onset of the disease (up to 16 years), severe inflammation, rapid progression of changes, a poor response to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, damage to the hip joint and the presence of extravertebral manifestations.

Ankylosing spondylitis is an extremely harmful and life-limiting disease. Therefore, the only effective way to stop it is to diagnose it as early as possible and start treatment in a timely manner. Since the symptoms of this ailment in women are most often secretive, it is important to periodically undergo a preventive examination.

Bonus

What conclusions can be drawn from the article:

1. The disease is systemic in nature, becomes chronic and is accompanied by damage to the joints.
2. In women, the symptoms are the same as in men, but they can be blurred, which is why patients do not seek medical help for a long time.
3. The mainstay of treatment is NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs).