Spondyloarthropathies In Saginaw, MI
Spondyloarthropathies, also spondyloarthritis, is a broad term that refers to a group of inflammatory diseases that typically affect the bones in your spine and surrounding joints. Spondyloarthropathies are categorized as axial or peripheral. Axial spondyloarthritis affects the pelvic joints and spine, while peripheral spondyloarthritis targets the limbs.
Individuals with spondyloarthropathies typically experience chronic back pain. Other symptoms may also present themselves depending on the location of the inflammation.
MI Health Clinic offers personalized care and treatment for spondyloarthropathies in Saginaw, MI. If you’re living with chronic inflammation and wish to get long-term relief from your symptoms, please contact our medical clinic today.
Types and Symptoms of Spondyloarthropathies
There are various forms of spondyloarthropathies. The most common type is ankylosing spondylitis. Ankylosing spondylitis, abbreviated AS, mainly affects the spinal joints and other large joints of the body. Other forms of spondyloarthropathies include:
Reactive arthritis: This inflammation typically develops following an infection in the urinary tract or digestive system. It may lead to inflammation of the lower limb joints.
Psoriatic arthritis: Psoriatic arthritis usually affects major joints, as well as the fingers and toes, and can also spread to the back and pelvis.
Enteropathic arthritis: Enteropathic arthritis may cause inflammation and pain in the spine, leg, and arm joints. This form of arthritis sometimes causes bloody diarrhea and abdominal pain. Individuals with a digestive tract illness such as Crohn’s disease are susceptible to enteropathic arthritis.
Other forms of spondyloarthropathies include Reiter’s syndrome, which occurs as a reaction to an infection in a different part of your body, juvenile arthritis, and undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy.
Symptoms of spondyloarthritis include back pain, painful and swollen joints, enthesitis (inflammation of the sites where the tendons or ligaments meet the bone), fatigue, loss of appetite, mild fevers, and swollen fingers or toes.
Diagnosis and Treatment
If you’re experiencing worrisome symptoms that may indicate the presence of spondyloarthritis, our doctors perform thorough evaluations to reach a diagnosis. Besides examining your medical records and health history, we’ll also perform various tests to get to the underlying cause of your symptoms.
While there’s no cure for spondyloarthritis, our doctors in Saginaw, MI, will prescribe various customized ways of managing your condition. Most treatments focus on minimizing the intensity and frequency of your symptoms.
Treatment includes medications including antibiotics, corticosteroids, NSAIDs, disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, physical therapy, and lifestyle changes.
Are you living with chronic inflammation and pain? You may be suffering from spondyloarthropathies. To enjoy personalized care for spondyloarthropathies in Saginaw, MI, reach out to MI Health Clinic today.