What Are Your Options If You Have Arthritis in Your Feet?
Posted on: 24 July 2018
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Arthritis can be a particularly painful condition and involves inflammation of your joints due to a variety of different triggers. Unfortunately, it is particularly common in the feet, especially as this part of the body has to deal with a lot of weight and pressure. If you believe that you may be suffering from arthritis, you need to determine what form you're dealing with so that you can look at the various options.
From a larger perspective, arthritis can fall into two different categories. One is related to wear and tear on a particular joint and is known as osteoarthritis, while the other is inflammatory and can be the result of a type of disease.
What Are You Dealing With?
Usually, you can tell whether you are suffering from inflammatory or osteoarthritis due to specific symptoms.
When you feel this pain in your feet, does it get worse if you touch or squeeze the affected area, or do you notice that there is some swelling associated with the joint? If you find that you answer yes to these questions and you also suffer with some painful stiffness each morning, then you are probably suffering from inflammatory arthritis rather than the alternative.
Initial Assessment
There are many ways to treat this painful condition, but many experts advise that you should get a biomechanical assessment before you continue. This will help the consultant to advise the best course of treatment from many different options.
Medication or Injections
Sometimes you may be prescribed a course of drugs that are designed to deal with arthritic symptoms and which include anti-inflammatories. In some cases, you may be asked to undergo a series of injections where steroids are introduced to help reduce inflammation.
Other Options
Some patients do well simply by fitting insoles to their shoes, especially if the arthritis affects the middle of the foot. This can be one of the simplest options, but at the other end of the scale are surgical options where some of the tissue or fluid may be removed or part of the joint modified.
Inflammatory Condition
If you are suffering from inflammatory arthritis, then this may require a more holistic approach and you may be prescribed with some longer-term medication. It's important for you to talk with your consultant to see what they think first.
Your path to recovery will begin with a proper assessment by a podiatrist to give you a full prognosis and outline the best course of action.