If your quiz results suggested potential symptoms of inflammatory back pain, axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), an inflammatory arthritis of the spine, might be the cause. Similar to other autoimmune conditions, axSpA may run in families.
Even if no one else in your family has chronic back pain, a history of other autoimmune conditions among close relatives is common in people with axSpA. Up to 40% of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients have a family history of certain conditions. Here are a few questions that may help get the conversation started.
Hearing your family history might help your rheumatologist discover what’s causing your pain. That’s why it’s important to talk about it with your family.