Many people visit their physicians with compliant of foot
pain that they contribute to arthritis. Many people think that as they age
arthritis is “normal” and that it is okay to be suffering with this pain. The
truth is there are many different types of arthritis that affect the foot and
ankle, and people don’t have to suffer with pain sine there are many different
treatment options.
Osteoarthritis
The most common type of arthritis to affect the foot and
ankles is osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis affects over 27 million Americans and
as the population ages the numbers will continue to rise. Osteoarthritis is a
degenerative process where the cartilage in the joints becomes eroded. This may
lead to pain, stiffness, swollen joints, hearing cracks in the joints while
walking, feeling like joints “are about to give out” and decreased in daily
activities of life. This type of arthritis is related to an increase in age,
trauma, genetics, and other medical conditions. Diagnosis is made by clinical
exam and/or by x-rays, MRI, and CT.
What type of
treatment options are there for me?
Osteoarthritis in the foot and ankle is usually treated with
conservative measures first. Decreasing one’s weight and increasing one’s
activity may reduce the symptoms of osteoarthritis. Exercise, which is not destructive
on the joints, is good to help with the pain, such as swimming. Anti-inflammatory
medications help with pain reduction but are not always a long term solution. There
are different types of anti-inflammatory medications depending on the severity
of the osteoarthritis. Some of the anti-inflammatory medications have
gastrointestinal side effects. In addition, there are topical anti-inflammatory
medications, which have no systemic gastrointestinal effects. Injections of steroids
into the affected joints, will help with short term pain reduction, but will
not help with cartilage loss.
If all of these measures fail, surgery is the next step in
treatment. Depending on where the osteoarthritis is located and what the exact
symptoms are, will determine what type of surgery is required. If the ankle is
affected, arthroscopic surgery is performed as first line therapy. If that does
not help an ankle fusion or replacement may be required. There are many other
foot joint, such as the subtler joint, that can be affected by arthritis. If
this is the case fusion of that joint is necessary. Prior to surgery your
physician will order an MRI or CT to determine the extent of the arthritis and
the cartilage loss. The recovery from these surgeries is a few months in a cast
with no weight to the leg. Due to the extent of the surgery and the recovery, this
option is a last resort for the really debilitating cases of arthritis.
Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis to
affect the foot and ankle, in next week’s blog other forms of arthritis, such
as rheumatic and psoriatic, will be discussed.
For more information, please visit our website at www,footnj.com
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