Ankylosing Spondylosis, Chest Expansion & Manual Therapy
When a physician diagnoses an individual as having Ankylosing Spondylosis (AS), the typical recommendation is… “Take these NSAIDs as needed, likely for the rest of your life? and try to stay active”.
Sadly for the patients, physicians would rarely recommend seeing a Physiotherapist for manual therapy and specific exercise prescription.
AS is not only a painful condition, it may also negatively affect chest expansion, vital capacity, posture and thoracic spine mobility.
The question, “Can Physiotherapy help those with ankylosing spondylosis?”
This 2009 RCT involved men with ankylosing spondylitis who received 8-weeks of Physiotherapy intervention, which included thoracic, and rib cage manual therapy and self-mobilizations for one hour twice a week.
After 2 months and 4 months, the patients receiving physiotherapy / manual therapy had a significant:
- Increase in chest expansion
- Improvement in cervical posture
- Decrease in thoracic spine kyphosis
- Improvement in thoracic & lumbar spine mobility
Posted on: December 03, 2009
Categories: Thoracic Spine
