Hello. My rheumatologist tested for the AS gene and if the gene was active. She also did X-rays & a mri to show narrowing and have a baseline for future treatment. Please advocate for yourself & your body! Best wishes.

@A MySpondylitisTeam Member. My drs use xrays, MRIs, and ultrasound to monitor my Psoriatic Spondylitis. If yours is Psoriatic, ultrasound is necessary to monitor the soft tissue destruction and synovial cavities that are afflicted too. MRIs are used to see spine degradation leading in the direction of self fusion with AS as well as dic dessication. Xrays dont often find minute changes, they see mostly the bigger stuff, but the CTs, MRIs, etc show what's going on in better detail. It depends a lot on the skill of the tech too. My most recent ultrasound showed improvement in my feet even though both my Achilles, especially my right, have been inflamed since last November. And it showed my wrists showed worse even though they haven't been bothering me in at least as long. Go figure.🤷‍♀️

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Diagnosing AS is like putting pieces together of a puzzle. There is no one thing that can definitely say you have AS. If the it has progressed with fusion - yes. If not it’s many pieces that a good doc will put together. Genetic markers, blood tests for inflammation, X-rays, MRI, etc.

This AI generated stuff does not capture the entire picture. AS is different in different people. Not one size fits all.

Karlee, thank you so much for the info. I am not armed with what I wanted to know to put this question to the doctor. You helped me immensely ❤️

This is really throwing my loop as I have been to 3 Rheumatologist’s that just sat yes you have AS but no X-ray’s etc have ever been done. It’s almost as if they are saying if it walks like a duck it’s a duck. 😡