Joint Pain in the Foot

Description


Life is good when everything in your body is moving smoothly: ligaments and
muscles pulling easily without tears or weakness, bones supporting the
motion, cartilage and joint fluid doing their part to lubricate things
nicely. It’s like the best sort of party: everyone’s getting along.
Unfortunately, just like all parts of the body, joints are susceptible to
wear and tear over time, not to mention infection, inflammation, and
trauma. When your joint experiences damage or other problems, it means less
smooth motion for you, and also more pain.

In a way, it’s hardly surprising that joints can become painful. They’re
often under a lot of stress, particularly the joints in your foot. (You
have more than thirty of them there.) Any one of them may decide to be a
party pooper and start causing you trouble.

Joint pain has many different causes. Arthritis, itself caused by many
things, is the most common source of joint pain. Other causes of pain in or
around a joint include injury, infection in the joint, problems with the
structure of the foot, bone bruises, ligament damage, stress fractures,
joint dislocation, inflammation, foreign objects (like a needle or piece of
glass) in the joint, and bursitis (inflammation of the bursa, a fluid-filled sac near joints).

Let’s discuss arthritis for a bit. Some of the most common kinds that can
affect the foot include the following:

• Osteoarthritis – Caused by wear and tear on the cartilage in the joint,
  usually over a period of time (although it can also be brought on by trauma),
  this type of arthritis is the most common. Being overweight can increase your
  risk of developing osteoarthritis.
• Rheumatoid arthritis – This type of arthritis is actually an autoimmune
  disease in which the body’s immune system attacks the joints. It usually shows
  up in a mirror-image pattern, so, for instance, both big toe joints would be
  affected at the same time. Those with this disease often experience periods of
  remission in between flare-ups. Women are much more likely than men to develop
  RA.
• Gout – When uric acid crystals build up in the blood, they may form crystals in a joint, usually the big toe joint. This condition is extremely painful, and is much more likely to affect men than women.

Symptoms


Pain in the joint may be accompanied by different symptoms, depending on
the cause of your discomfort. For instance, osteoarthritis usually develops
slowly and manifests as stiffness upon arising, whereas rheumatoid
arthritis usually has a more acute (sudden) onset and may be accompanied by
chest and abdominal pains, loss of weight, and a rash. Fevers might show up
with infection in a joint.

However, with most joint problems, you’ll probably experience swelling,
warmth and redness in the joint, as well as restrictions in motion. You may
also notice that the shape of your foot has changed a bit.

Diagnosis


Unfortunately, your podiatrist doesn’t have a podiatric superchip to
immediately determine the cause of your joint pain (although science is
probably working on it right now), so he or she will need to do some
detective work to find the source. Be prepared to talk about a history of
your symptoms, including how long you’ve had them, how quickly they
developed, how bad they are, and so on. Your podiatrist may also want to
watch your feet in motion, so he or she might have you walk around. The
foot doctor will probably also do a physical examination of the foot, and
may manipulate it to see what your range of motion is in the painful joint.

X-rays and other imaging technology are good ways for your podiatrist to
look at what’s happening with your bones and other tissues inside your
foot. They’ll help your doctor spot damage to the joint and may aid in the
diagnosis of your condition. However, you should be aware that all joints
tend to show wear over time, and the wear on the painful joint may or may
not be the cause of your discomfort. Joint taps may be used to retrieve
some of the fluid from the joint. Joint fluid should be clear and somewhat
viscous (like syrup), but things like infections or gout often cause it to
look cloudy. Your podiatrist may also check for uric acid crystals if gout
is suspected, or may determine the number of white blood cells in the
fluid.

Treatment


Treating painful joints usually revolves around getting them to stop
freaking out (i.e. trying to reduce or eliminate the inflammation). Your
podiatrist is likely to suggest you stay off your feet as much as possible
and elevate your foot to reduce swelling and pain. Ice is often helpful
(you’ll want to apply it for 20 minutes over a thin towel, and then wait at
least 40 minutes before applying it again).

Medication is also often used to reduce joint pain. Your doctor might
suggest non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication, such as ibuprofen, or
other pain medications such as acetaminophen or aspirin. In some cases,
your podiatrist may try a cortisone injection into the joint to reduce your
pain.

Because joint pain may be associated with weakened muscles, your podiatrist
may suggest physical therapy to strengthen the muscles that interact with
your joint. Orthotics (or prescription shoe inserts) are also often used to
correct the function of the foot and provide relief from pain.

On occasion, depending on the cause of your joint pain, and how it responds
to conservative treatment (or doesn’t respond), your podiatrist may
determine that surgery is the best option for getting your joints to be
pain-free. Be sure to thoroughly discuss all treatment options with your
foot doctor.

While damage to your joint may be permanent, there’s no reason why you
should have to live a life of pain. With proper treatment and regular
checkups, you should be able to get your joint to work together with the
rest of your body again, and quit being such a spoilsport.