Unknown Ailment (spine)

Hi, Basically i was wondering if anyone had come across the problem i have with my back, ive been asking around and nobody seems to have dealt with it before.

I'm a dancer so my flexibility is pretty good, for instance when im warm i can put my head on my knees when touching the floor in a hamstring stretch no problem, the issue i have is when im not warm, like if i begin training in the morning or when i get out of bed, my spinal collum feels really tight, like i cant even bend my neck to my chest without it being quite a painful stretch, its been happening for a good few months now, i thought that everyone dealt with this and that u just warmed up the spine like any other part of your body because when it is warmer my range of movement is quite high...

Has anyone come across a patient with such a problem, if so can u enlighten me as to how it should be treated because im not sure what to do!

Thank you for your time!

Hi kynamite. Would you mind telling us how old you are?

could u tell us some of ur history like age , sex , and any past history of fall or accident.tell me ur sleeping postur and pillow size .
do u feel any stiffness in ur hipjoint too?
low grade fever?

i hope i can give u some suggessions after having some details

Hi ok!

I'm 18, i am a dancer and am quite flexible already, i normally sleep on my side, i don't know how to describe my pillow size but there normal, sometimes i sleep without any because i find it more comfortable but not that often!, ive never had any bad falls of shunts or anything, ive had osgood-sclatters disease in both knees as well as tendonitus for a while!, i am an ex-basketballer but to my knowledge i was landing correctly after jumping and no i haven't got any fevers or hip problems :S!

it seems u need proper assessment for ankylosing spondylitis.
we cant find any positive x-rays at this stage.I would suggest you to have a blood test for your ESR, though its not a diagnostic test.Diagnosis at early stage can only be made by clinical examination.

feel free to ask any further question.

I agree with shasadah

The first thing that popped in to my head when you mentioned your symptoms was ankylosing spondylitis. Your doctor will probably do some blood tests looking for the HLA-B27 marker which is common in people who have the condition. This along with a clinical examination will help to confirm the diagnosis.

Good luck.