Types

Osteoarthritis

Also known as “Degenerative”, or simply “wear and tear”, is common among people who are middle aged, but can happen in younger individuals too.

This condition happens when the cartilage gradually wears away. As this happens the cartilage becomes rough and space between the bones decreases. This results in bone rubbing on bone, and produced painful bone spurs. This condition develops slowly leading to pain and stiffness.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

This chronic disease affects multiple joints throughout the entire body, specifically the foot and ankle. This disease is symmetrical, this means the disease normally affects the same joint on either both sides of the body.

Rheumatoid Arthritis is an autoimmune disease. Meaning the immune system attacks its own tissues. In this condition, the immune cells attack the synovium which covers the joint. As a result, the synovium damages the bone, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments.

The cause of Rheumatoid Arthritis is unknown, but it is known that the condition is hereditary.

Symptoms

Symptoms vary depending on the joint, but many start with pain and inflammation in the affected joint. Pain the start and increase gradually, but in some cases pain will sudden. Other symptoms include:

Pain with motion
Flaring pain with vigorous activity
Tenderness when pressure is applied
Swelling, warmth, and redness in affected joint
Increased pain in the morning or after sitting or resting

Treatments

Non-Surgical:

While there is no cure for arthritis, there are treatments that can help relieve pain.

Change Lifestyle: Changes in your daily life can help reduce pain and slow the progression of the disease. Changes include:

Reduce participation in activities that aggravate the disease
Switch from high impact exercises to low impact exercises. For example, instead of running try cycling or swimming.
Losing weight can reduce stress on foot and ankle joints. As a result, this will reduce pain and discomfort.

Physical Therapy: Practicing certain exercises can increase range of motion and strengthen the joints. Consult your doctor or physical therapist to find the correct exercises for your condition.

Physical Therapy can reduce stress, but it also can increase friction. If your condition is caused or aggravated by friction your symptoms will worsen. If this happens your doctor or therapist will encourage other treatments.

Surgical:

Surgery may be recommended if your condition does not improve with non-surgical treatment. The type of surgery will be dependent on the location severity of your condition. In some cases doctors will recommend more than one type of surgery.

Arthroscopic Debridement: This procedure is performed in the early stages of arthritis. Debridement, or cleansing, is the removal of loose cartilage, inflamed synovial tissue, and bone spurs from around the joint.

Arthrodesis: This procedure fuses the bones of the joint together. This makes one, two or more bones. The goal of this procedure is to reduce pain by eliminating motion in the joint.

Total Ankle Replacement: Total Ankle Replacement, also known as Arthroplasty, the surgeon will remove the damaged cartilage and bone. They then will replace them with metal and plastic joint surfaces to restore the function of the joint.

What Is Foot Arthritis?

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