How To Treat It? Foot Arthritis

Foot arthritis could be described as one of the more common forms of arthritis. The problem with the foot is that it consists of twenty-eight bones and thirty joints, of which any are susceptible to arthritis. If arthritis develops in any of these joints, its going to affect the way you walk, run and move in general. The joints in the foot which are more commonly affected are: the big toe, the ankle, the mid foot and the hind foot joint.

The most common form of arthritis which develops in the foot is osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is the result of getting older, and essentially wear and tear on the joints and cartilage. The cartilage wears down, and the bones rub together resulting in pain and swelling.

Please understand the next few paragraphs with care, the situation and the options have a lot of different versions. Traumatic arthritis is a common form of osteoarthritis that develops in the foot of a patient following some form of severe injury. This can develop in the foot even when the injury was treated correctly, and given time to recover fully. The most common forms of traumatic foot arthritis are a torn ligament, broken bone or severe sprain.

There are various symptoms and indications of foot arthritis, which should alert the sufferer to the condition immediately. These symptoms include swelling, tenderness, pain, stiffness and reduced mobility of the affected joint. All these symptoms will eventually lead to a difficulty in walking.

For a doctor to properly diagnose foot arthritis, a serious of tests and physical examinations will need to be performed. The doctor will also require information about your health and lifestyle to give clues on the complexity of the condition. The next step is to perform a walking analysis. In performing this walking analysis, the doctor will measure your stride and test your ankle and foot strength. Certain diagnostic imaging tests may also be required to further diagnose your condition- theses may include and X-Ray, CT or MRI scan.

After fully evaluating your foot arthritis, your doctor/physician will devise the most suitable treatment plan. There are many non-surgical treatments available, these include:

Taking anti-inflammatory medication

Steroid injection

Foot brace or cane usage

Ankle and foot support usage

Physical therapy

The final treatment option is surgery, and is generally reserved as a ‘last resort’ when all other treatment methods have failed. The key to effectively treating arthritis is early diagnosis. Do not ignore those sensations of stiffness and soreness; see a doctor as soon as possible, so that you have the best chance of treating your foot arthritis.

Excellent comment on the subject:

Arthritis is a degenerative condition that can be caused by normal wear and tear on the joints over a long period of time. Eventually joint cartillage can wear down and then you have bone grating on bone, which is very painful. Think of joint cartillage like a brick wall. Your body is the bricklayer, and time is the enemy firing weapons at your wall. Your bricklayer is pretty good at putting up bricks, but he has a very sporadic supply train (blood) giving him replacement bricks and mortar. If there was a way to increase the supply train, your bricklayer would be able to work faster. He’ll never be faster than the enemy, but he can stall defeat. In my clinic we counsel clients theat treatment of arthritis is a three-pronged approach. 1) control pain and inflammation. This is achieved through the use of drugs such as NSAIDS (Rimadyl, Previcox, Deramaxx) or when these drugs become innefective, you can advance to the cortisone drugs. 2) Give the joints what they need to repair themselves (think back to your bricklayer.) This means fortifying his diet with the building blocks of cartillage- glucosamine and chondroitin. Plus, there is exciing new research that an amino acid (chromium ethylester- sold under the brand name Rejuvinate) has a catalytic effect on the glucosamine and chondroitin, making them work even better. 3) Retain muscle mass and range of motion. Mild exercise (several short walks per day- no more than what is comfortable for your dog) is very beneficial in the treatment of arthritis. There are also veterinary physical therapy centers that have underwater treadmills for dogs also, so that they can walk without thier full weight on the joints. Swimming is great, too! At the end of the day, addressing the problem of arthritis from all 3 angles will give yout the best result and make him comfortable for the longest period of time, but ultimately your dog will reach a point where he’s no longer having a good quality of life. No one knows your dog like you, so no one besides you- not even your vet- can know when he’s ready to give up the fight. Best of luck, and my heart goes out to you. IM me if you want any other info. And apologies for the typos- i'm typing with a broken wrist!