| Ankylosing Spondylitis | | | | Treatment |
| Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is an inflammatory arthritis | | | | Physical therapy |
| of the spine. It may be a systemic disorder, and it | | | | Physical therapy is treatment to improve mobility (such |
| affects males more often than females. Diagnosis is | | | | as walking, going up stairs, or getting in and out of bed), |
| usually made during young adulthood. The disorder is | | | | to relieve pain, and to restore physical function and |
| characterized by back pain, stiffness, and loss of spinal | | | | overall fitness. The physical therapist uses exercise, |
| mobility due to involvement of spinal joints. Later these | | | | manual therapy, education, and modalities such as heat, |
| joints tend to become fused and rigid. The hips and | | | | cold, and electrical stimulation to work toward these |
| shoulders may also become inflamed and stiff. | | | | goals. |