How do patients with ankylosing spondylitis take care of themselves? The dysfunction caused by spinal deformity and ankylosis can be extremely painful and difficult for patients to bend, expand the chest and flex the neck, among other movements. To alleviate or prevent these adverse consequences, patients should learn to take care of themselves in addition to receiving various examinations and treatments from their doctors. The first and foremost thing is to maintain a proper position at rest. One should sleep on a hard bed, take a supine position, and avoid positions that promote flexion deformity. Once the lesion invades the upper thoracic and cervical vertebrae upstream, the use of pillows should be stopped. Any physical activity that can cause persistent pain should be avoided: regular height measurements; keeping height records is a good measure to prevent early spinal curvature that is not easily detected. Chest wall lesions are more common, and patients should know the dangers of smoking and stop smoking. How should patients with ankylosing spondylitis rest? What kind of sleeping position should I take? The most serious consequences for patients with ankylosing spondylitis are ankylosis of the spine and disability due to hip deformity. Therefore, prevention should be done in the early stages of the disease, before deformity develops, that is, before bony ankylosis occurs. How to prevent it? During the day, we can consciously correct the bad posture and maintain the physiological function, and at night, we can only rely on the role of the bed. Now Simmons or sponge bed, because of its softness, sleep is really comfortable, but because of its concave large, ankylosing spondylitis patients are extremely unfavorable, can aggravate the pain and passive position, over time, there is a spinal curvature. The hard bed is hard because of its plane, so that the trunk can not bend when lying down, forcing the spine is physiological position, thus playing a control role in the prevention of spinal deformity. Therefore, patients with ankylosing spondylitis are advised to sleep on a hard bed and try to maintain a supine sleeping position to prevent deformity if they can tolerate it. Treatment of ankylosing spondylitis The goal of ankylosing spondylitis treatment is to control inflammation, reduce symptoms, maintain normal posture and optimal functional position, and prevent deformity. If the condition seriously affects the quality of life, with severe kyphosis and bilateral hip immobility, surgical treatment is preferred.