Have you experienced sharp pain through your foot? How about your first toe?
Have you already been diagnosed with arthritis? Here’s a quick summary of what you need to know.
Arthritis is a general term that refers to over 150 different conditions that affect the muscles, bones and joints.
Types:
- Inflammatory: includes rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriatic arthritis, juvenile arthritis, gout and ankylosing spondylitis. These involve inflammation as one of the main symptoms
- Degenerative: the main form of degenerative arthritis is osteoarthritis. It involves degeneration or deterioration of the cartilage, bone, ligaments and muscles in and around the joint
- Others: Affects bone or soft tissues and includes fibromyalgia and osteoporosis
Symptoms:
- Pain
- Swelling, redness and warmth in a joint
- Muscular aches and pains
- Stiffness or reduced movement of a joint
- General symptoms such as fatigue and feeling unwell
Treatment and management options will vary depending on the type of arthritis you have, its severity and the parts of the body affected.
From a foot perspective, we as podiatrists see many people that live with 1st toe and midfoot arthritis as well as many other affected joints. We follow a step-wise approach to helping our patients feel more comfortable. Some of these include:
- Footwear recommendation
- In-shoe offloading
- Alternative lacing options
If we feel that you may be better suited to further referral, we would be more than happy to align you with another health professional to continue on with your care.
If you have any questions about arthritis, feel free to give us a call on 8468 2411. Or you can book an appointment with one of our friendly podiatrists here
