@ Pitac. The disease I think deteriorates the bone. The fusion is an effort of the body to stabilize and give some strength to the bone. But eventually it all gets brittle and even deteriorates the ribs and somehow can even begin of affect organs in the body.

Spondyloarthritis IS arthritis. It just connotes that it is in the spine. It makes sense that people with spinal arthritis do have or will develop arthritis anywhere else in the body. My additional horrible stuff is all related. But they're better and I'm sure will continue to improve. I just spent many years explaining away my symptoms until I was literally stopped in my tracks 3+ years ago. Thats when I realized that there might be more to my health issues than aging, hard playing, past accidents etc. It took a long time to get really bad. It is reasonable that it may take a long time to set my body straight. I might not ever be able to do that, but I think its reasonable to be able to stop the progression. Afterall, there are loads of patients worldwide who can stop and reverse horrible cancers. Why not too with autoimmune disease?

Oh, and spondyloarthritis is the fusing of. It is rather the inflammation of the spine, ligaments and tendons.

And for some that causes fusion. That is the new understanding of the condition as a whole.

@A MySpondylitisTeam Member, Hi! Thank you for your reply. Yes, 8 am aware of what it does, all too aware. I started experiencing that 8 years ago with my first osteoporosis scan. Osteopenia, then osteoporosis just 4 years later. But, the good news is that i managed to reverse that and now back to osteopenia without medication, just diet, supplements, and exercise/walking. I lost the disc between L5 and my sacrum. Disintegrated. I didn't know that could happen. The things we learn. 5 years ago it still hadn't fused yet,must bone sitting on bone a little wonky, i dont recall off hand which direction, front or back. Eh, I'm still upright, mostly😄. Seeing a new spine dr Monday so we'll see. Last year in Feb an xraynfor some forgotten reason showed herniated L3 with spurring and a bit of stenosis I think. 6 months later they did the same xray again and the vertebra body in the entire lumbar was good and straight, no osteophyte. I didn't know a herniation could be corrected without at least a chiropractor, but apparently it can, reabsorption of osteophyte too. I'd been walking farther with hiking poles and I suppose that along with extensive S/I PT. Then there's the S/Is to hips disaster, but, yet, xray showed arthritic buildup in my right hip in Jan. I just saw my Ortho last week for a bursa shot and the arthritis is gone. Score 3 for the better nutrition and physical therapy. I'm hoping for good news on my neck. With 3 totaled car accidents and 10 years martial arts, 20 years landscape gardening, I believe in miracles. We'll see. 6 lateral herniations in a row up there, osteophytes with stenosis on all the joints C2-T2. Backwards curve..blah blah blah I'm not dead yet! 🤪

What I'm actually wondering is why non radiographic AS isn't called PsAS or one of the other spine arthritises. I mean, if damage can't be seen yet, how do they know? If it weren't for my psoriasis I would have thought my diagnosis would have been AS instead of Psoriatic Spondylitis. The disease progression is the same, at least in the spine. I don't think the treatments are any different. I've just been curious about the deciding distinction. I asked my dr and she said it's because I already had psoriasis. However, I've read several on this forum as well as in the articles online that many patients with AS also have psoriasis. So why are they not PsAS? Not that it matters really, just a musing that passes through my little world of pondering.😚

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@A MySpondylitisTeam Member. Yeah, that osteophyte wasn't in this latest MRI either. It was an xray a year ago that reported it on L3. I do have 3 bulging discs and a cyst though inside the vertebra body at L4. Maybe the radiologist for the xray saw that, I dont know. I just know that today my torn hip labrum is giving me grief doing my PT. Like you said previously, always sumthin 🤨

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