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Hi, and welcome back to my channel. My name is Elina Boyd if you have not been here before. I have lived with ankylosing spondylitis for over a decade, so I talk a lot about that here on my channel.
Elina shares 5 key things to avoid for managing ankylosing spondylitis, focusing on movement, stress reduction, and lifestyle adjustments.
Key Takeaways
- Movement is crucial in managing ankylosing spondylitis symptoms and preventing stiffness.
- Stress exacerbates symptoms, so reducing stress through lifestyle changes is important.
- Avoid negative influences and overly focusing on illness to maintain a healthier mental state.
- Small, consistent efforts like gentle stretching and mindful breathing can make a significant difference.
- Creating a balanced routine with adequate rest, movement, and stress management supports better AS management.
Summary
- Avoid being sedentary to prevent stiffness and worsening pain; keep moving with gentle exercises like stretching or foam rolling.
- Try to reduce stress by minimizing exposure to negative stimuli such as news and managing daily life pressures.
- Limit screen time especially right after waking up and before bed to improve sleep quality and reduce stress.
- Seek supportive communities outside of chronic illness forums to maintain a positive mindset and avoid focusing solely on pain.
- Incorporate mindfulness and small movement breaks during the day to help manage symptoms and improve mental well-being.
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
channel um and today I'm actually holding my microphone because I had some issues attaching it uh so I hope this works and uh if you're wondering what this thing is it's just my mic uh and I hope you can still hear me okay so um as
Speaker A
Um, and today I'm actually holding my microphone because I had some issues attaching it, uh, so I hope this works. And, uh, if you're wondering what this thing is, it's just my mic, uh, and I hope you can still hear me okay. So, um, as
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years whatever it is now over a decade so today I wanted to make a video about five things to avoid when you have ank oing spondilitis so yeah there are quite a few things that we should be a little bit careful
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always, this is not considered any, you know, medical advice or anything. I'm not a doctor. I'm just sharing my personal experience with, uh, what works and what doesn't work for me personally after living with AS for 10 years or 10, 11
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in your spine and your hips and your SI joints and your knees and shoulders and all the joints in your body basically so it can be really hard to move and it can be hard to be motivated to move but it's
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years, whatever it is now, over a decade. So today I wanted to make a video about five things to avoid when you have ankylosing spondylitis. So yeah, there are quite a few things that we should be a little bit careful
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body is really really important so if you're sedentary the pain most likely will get worse and you'll also get stiffer and stiffer right so you you want to try to keep moving and I know it can be painful and I actually last week
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with, uh, when we live with a condition like this. So number one, do not be sedentary. So keep moving, right? This can be pretty difficult because as you know, AS is a type of inflammatory arthritis and you can have a lot of pain
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maybe it's um you know even foam rolling gentle stretching things like that can make a huge difference so again tip number one on things to avoid when you have ankle hosing spondilitis is avoid being sedentary you have to
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in your spine and your hips and your SI joints and your knees and shoulders and all the joints in your body basically. So it can be really hard to move and it can be hard to be motivated to move, but it's
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kids you're working full-time it's just kind of crazy right maybe going through a house renovation or finding a new place to live or moving or whatever life is just Madness sometimes and I get that but I will say to the best of your
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really important that we do move. And even if it's something simple like taking a short walk or doing some, you know, wrist circles or ankle circles or hip circles or just something to, uh, get some movement into our joints and, um, our
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them help you with the chores um at work how can you uh how can you uh make it as least stressful as possible and I understand I've I used to have a have a h very stressful job myself and it's
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body is really, really important. So if you're sedentary, the pain most likely will get worse and you'll also get stiffer and stiffer, right? So you, you want to try to keep moving, and I know it can be painful, and I actually last week
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and you know running between meetings and I know it's really really hard I I've lived that life for a long time but anything you can do to reduce your stress so maybe it's you know if you have really rushed mornings um can you
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I did a video on that, so what to do when it hurts to exercise, right? 'Cause that's a very common thing with AS. Yes, but you, you have to keep moving in whatever way you are able to. Maybe it's swimming,
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long commute and you're always running late leave your house 20 minutes earlier whatever you have to do right to minimize that fight or flight response in your body where you get so worked up that you're you know about to explode
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maybe it's, um, you know, even foam rolling, gentle stretching, things like that can make a huge difference. So again, tip number one on things to avoid when you have ankylosing spondylitis is avoid being sedentary. You have to
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your phone or watching the news first thing when you wake up when you first wake up for like the first 30 to 60 minutes if you can fill your mind with calm things like um do a visualization meditation have your cup of coffee or
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keep moving. Number two is try to avoid stress to the best of your ability. Now, this can be a pretty tricky one, obviously. I know that, you know, a lot of people, um, out there, you know, you have
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watching watching the news because if you do that the first thing when you wake up you're just going to get bombarded with all this negative energy and it's going to stress you out so much even if you don't realize it but it's
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kids, you're working full-time, it's just kind of crazy, right? Maybe going through a house renovation or finding a new place to live or moving or whatever. Life is just madness sometimes, and I get that. But I will say to the best of your
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your screens first hour after you wake up and then same thing before bed try to put your phone away like two hours before you go to bed um and that might help you sleep a little bit better which
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ability, try to reduce your stress. So whether that is, you know, um, if you have a partner, asking them to help you with chores or help with the kids, or if you have kids that are old enough, have
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it's just five minutes take a breath you know maybe just stretch a little bit move around a little bit just find those moments of mindfulness throughout your day and then number three three on my list of things to avoid is this might be
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them help you with the chores. Um, at work, how can you, uh, how can you, uh, make it as least stressful as possible? And I understand I've, I used to have a, have a very stressful job myself, and it's
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sense of community right the problem with these forums and maybe you know maybe you've found different ones than I have but the forums that I've been on it's so negative people just they become their disease and they just focus on it
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it's not always something you can, you can, um, affect, but use your lunch break, go outside, take a walk, sit outside, sit in silence, you know, um, try to the best of your ability not eating at your desk
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keep focusing on how sick you are and how much pain you have and you're even in these forums and you you listen to other people talk about how sick they are and how much pain they're in that is
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and, you know, running between meetings. And I know it's really, really hard. I've lived that life for a long time, but anything you can do to reduce your stress. So maybe it's, you know, if you have really rushed mornings, um, can you
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a a a knitting club or find a yoga studio and join like a yoga Community or like find some other sense of community versus the chronic illness community and I I'm I'm part of it I have chronic illness and I'm I'm you
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go to bed half an hour or an hour earlier and then get up half an hour or an hour earlier so that you can start your morning nice and easy, right? Like try to avoid, like if you know you have a
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talking about how how ill I am um it's just I don't think that's very productive and I don't think that that helps anybody to be honest it's good to have that sense of community but you have to be really careful because your
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long commute and you're always running late, leave your house 20 minutes earlier, whatever you have to do, right, to minimize that fight or flight response in your body where you get so worked up that you're, you know, about to explode,
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MRI then you get your MRI results back and it shows that you have a dis issue or whatever it is the pain increases by I can't remember the percentage but it's pretty significant and that's only because they're told that they have
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because that kind of stuff is really, really inflammatory. Um, and for people like us with this condition, it's, it's really, it actually, it creates more inflammation in your body. So you can also do little things like not checking
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really mindful of how we treat our our condition and to be you know not to be you know ignoring it because it's real and it's freaking painful I know but also finding that balance so that that we're not just like getting completely
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your phone or watching the news first thing when you wake up. When you first wake up, for like the first 30 to 60 minutes, if you can fill your mind with calm things like, um, do a visualization meditation, have your cup of coffee or
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sicker I can make myself sicker I can make my pain increase and I do that by Googling and by you know uh uh just kind of reading about it and it's I mean obviously here um which is good and like
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your tea and just sit in silence, read your Bible, do your, you know, whatever spiritual, spiritual habits you have, you know, can you do that first thing in the morning instead of logging on to social media or checking your emails or
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these communities and it's just kind of negative and also of course be care be be be mindful of the the tone in these communities right like are they positive and like yes we can do this and you know
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watching, watching the news? Because if you do that the first thing when you wake up, you're just going to get bombarded with all this negative energy and it's going to stress you out so much, even if you don't realize it. But it's
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that should that's not helping me that's making me miserable hearing about that so just be mindful on that it's a little controversial I know but just just be mindful watch your mind because your mind dictates like everything okay and
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really, really not a great thing for your brain to get bombarded with all that kind of information, um, first thing in the morning. So that would be like minimizing stress in general, but then also little things like that. Get off
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now as I'm recording this I um hurt my back nine days ago now today um and you know I am uh I do weightlifting I do handstands and I do like acrobatic stuff and I I really love that stuff and now I
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your screens first hour after you wake up. And then same thing before bed, try to put your phone away like two hours before you go to bed, um, and that might help you sleep a little bit better, which
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why can't I do this but instead what I try to do is focus on the things I can do so okay nine days of this okay I can't handstand I can't lift weights you know but what I can do is I can do my
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is also really important. Yeah, minimizing stress the best you can, um, just maybe planning it better or getting help if you need to or, you know, just finding little pockets throughout your day where you can just kind of step aside, even if
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usually do so I focus on kind of the boring Basics instead and it just I see it as like a little um I don't know it's almost like a little Retreat for my back right I focus more on softness I focus
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it's just five minutes, take a breath, you know, maybe just stretch a little bit, move around a little bit, just find those moments of mindfulness throughout your day. And then number three, three on my list of things to avoid is this might be
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like trying to figure out ways to keep yourself motivated and positive even in times of like when you're in a flare right so I think instead of sitting here for me and just you know wallowing and crying about not being able to do
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controversial, but I would say stay out of the online forums for AS and chronic illnesses in general. So I have been on those forums and I know that you want to be on there because you get this
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you're into I don't know crocheting and your hands hurting really bad and so can you maybe do puzzles instead or could you bake or could you I don't know maybe you you watch um something that I usually do as well if I'm really really
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sense of community, right? The problem with these forums, and maybe, you know, maybe you've found different ones than I have, but the forums that I've been on, it's so negative. People just, they become their disease and they just focus on it,
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photography tutorials on on YouTube or I watch uh Photoshop Tut tutorials you know like you can always and then that way my brain like somehow my mind feels more at ease because I'm focusing on I'm not wasting my time during my flare if
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and it's all about how the disease is progressing, how bad they're feeling this day, what else the doctor said, all the treatments on, and it's kind of just energy flows where attention goes or something like that, right? And so if you
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you can't do the things that maybe you really want to do but what can you do that are like smaller steps to still get to that goal right like if you like crocheting and your hands you can't even
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keep focusing on how sick you are and how much pain you have and you're even in these forums and you, you listen to other people talk about how sick they are and how much pain they're in, that is
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and you can just use this time to like gain all this knowledge right so just focusing you know try to avoid like getting stuck on the stuff you can't do when you're in a flare and try to focus
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not a good thing. And so I know some people really, really like to be on those forums and I, I understand that, but please try to find some other sense of community like join a, I don't know, like
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so this is something that comes with as automatically right we kind of get into this posture here um but to the best of your ability try to not slouch too much so if you're working on a computer all
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a, a, a knitting club or find a yoga studio and join like a yoga community or like find some other sense of community versus the chronic illness community. And I, I'm, I'm part of it. I have chronic illness and I'm, I'm, you
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phone up to your face so you're not down here if you're driving a lot for work or for other reasons just you know um have a lumbar support pillow um and then take a lot of breaks throughout your day and
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know, I have ankylosing spondylitis as well, but I don't want that to be what defines me. I mean, to a certain extent, yes, it's part of who I am in a way, right? But it's not, I'm not going to sit on Facebook
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right so to the best of your ability try to not just do this automatically because then you're going to get stuck here much faster than uh than you want right so just open up that chest roll the shoulders
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talking about how, how ill I am. Um, it's just I don't think that's very productive and I don't think that that helps anybody to be honest. It's good to have that sense of community, but you have to be really careful because your
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like even if you don't have as most people end up like this anyway these days because we're always on our phones we're on our computers we drive we cook everything is like this and so we have to kind of open it up right so those are
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mind, if you focus on your disease too much, you're going to get sicker and sicker and sicker, right? Like there's actually been studies done that people who have an MRI. So if you show up with back pain, for example, and you have an
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obviously get proper sleep do not skip your sleep do not smoke don't drink too much alcohol don't eat a lot of junk food so just try to be your healthiest self and it doesn't have to be so uh you
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MRI, then you get your MRI results back and it shows that you have a disc issue or whatever it is, the pain increases by, I can't remember the percentage, but it's pretty significant. And that's only because they're told that they have
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single day do it maybe once a week or something um but just try to try to take care of your body the best you can um and it will take care of you so um I hope this is helpful uh as always you
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something wrong with it, right? And so getting that confirmed increases your pain because your, your, your brain is like, oh, I knew there was something wrong with me. Well, it's, you know, what was me kind of thing. And so we have to be
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me to cover in my next video and uh yeah thank you so much for being here don't forget to hit subscribe and like this video if you did enjoy it and uh I hope to see you on Instagram and I will see
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really mindful o
Topics:ankylosing spondylitisAS managementinflammatory arthritischronic illness tipsstress reductionmovement therapyfoam rollingmindfulnessexercise with ASliving with AS
