My 6 Tips For Spondylitis Wellness

The most troublesome spondylitis symptoms line up perfectly with crucial aspects of living life on our own terms. Pain, fatigue, stiffness, and reduced range of motion pose formidable challenges to living well with spondylitis even under the best of circumstances.

Many patients find themselves adrift in the world with unpredictable bodies, unreliable information, and sketchy support systems. This is why our people must act intentionally to protect our health and overall vitality.

Here are my 6 tips for wellness success

1. Take stock

Have you heard the phrase “shop your pantry first?” This is a budget conscious approach to avoiding duplicate purchasing and wasting food and other household supplies.

Spondylitis patients can help protect their wellness by reviewing how the most important areas of their lives are going, what’s working and why, and what needs to change.

2. Stay on target

Some common target action areas are body, home, mind, work and school, soul, finances, relationships, giving, love, and fun. It’s unreasonable to expect all 10 of these aspects of our lives to be perfect, but exploring them and setting priorities may help get us closer to where we want to be.

3. Authenticity first!

Authentic self-care results from the alignment of needs, desires, and commitments with our actions. It’s a deep and ongoing process touching every aspect of our life. It’s recognizable in our daily lifestyle choices around what we eat, how we rest, our activity levels, relationships and screen time, cultivating happiness, and keeping to our care plans.

4. Be selective with your time and attention

Spondylitis is the most time consuming thing in my life. I’ve often joked with friends that she is my child, but instead of taking her to soccer practice and dance lessons I’m just trying to keep her hands from around my neck. In a world filled with ever increassing distractions I can’t let anything take my eyes off of her.

5. Keeping up won’t work​

The mainstream culture teaches that the answer to most problems is to work harder, spend more, or try the latest gimmick. This side hustle and grind culture is no friend of arthritis patients dealing with a baseline of fatigue and other built-in limitations.

The mainstream doesn’t have much space for questioning why some of us find life so difficult and how culture might change to accommodate us. Sigh. It’s probably going to be your job to break from these assumptions to protect your health and happiness.

6. Make a plan

Anything we want to do well involves planning. My self-care planning is more of a “mad scientist” situation, with lots of tinkering, trial and error, and revisions.

Highlights from my spondylitis care plan

None of these things cures Spondylitis, but this plan has changed my life for the better.

1. Low-carb dieting: Helps me manage my weight, protect my energy levels, and keep my GI situation under control.
2. Meal prep: Saves time and money in the kitchen, keeps me low-carb compliant, and reduces my stress levels.
3. Centering sleep and rest: Has improved my pain and stiffness.