Arthritis in Your Feet
Your feet work hard every day to support your body and safely move you when you walk around. The amount of work your feet put in on a regular basis makes them especially susceptible to developing arthritis.
Arthritis in your feet can be painful and uncomfortable, but with proper treatment, it’s possible to significantly reduce your symptoms and restore your quality of life. Double board-certified podiatrist Thomas Rambacher, DPM FACFAS, FAPWCA, and board-certified foot and ankle specialist Michael Bastani, DPM, offer revolutionary arthritis treatments at Podiatry Hotline Foot & Ankle in Mission Viejo, California that ease your discomfort.
Discover more about arthritis in your feet and the treatment options available to you.
Understanding arthritis
Arthritis refers to a number of conditions that cause problems in the joints throughout your body. You get arthritis in a joint when the lining of your joint starts breaking down, which causes the bones in your joint to rub against each other.
This rubbing can be extremely uncomfortable and cause swelling and pain. Arthritis is degenerative, meaning it can get worse over time without treatment.
Your feet and ankles are among the most common parts of your body to develop arthritis.
Types of arthritis in your feet
You can get arthritis in various parts of your feet, including the big toe, ankle, and various other small joints located around the foot.
Common types of arthritis in your feet include:
- Osteoarthritis, which is the most common form of arthritis. It’s caused by years of wear and tear on your toes, feet, and ankles.
- Rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that occurs when your immune system impacts your joint, causing arthritic swelling and pain.
- Gout, a painful form of arthritis caused by high levels of uric acid in your body. Gout impairs the functioning of your big toe joint.
Symptoms of arthritis in your foot can include pain and tenderness when you touch or move your impacted joint, impaired mobility, and swelling and stiffness while moving or after resting. Over time, arthritis can impair the ability of your joint to function and cause bone spurs, making it harder for you to walk and do your usual activities.
Treating arthritis in your feet
If home care hasn’t relieved your arthritis symptoms, our team of doctors can help. Treatments we offer to relieve arthritis in your feet at Podiatry Hotline Foot & Ankle include medications, surgery, and stem cell therapy.
Medications
Medications can help relieve the stiffness, swelling, and pain in your feet from arthritis. These can range from over the counter medications like NSAIDs to steroids injected directly into your feet.
Surgery
Our doctors offer two procedures, joint fusion and bone trimming, that relieve arthritis symptoms. During joint fusion, our doctors fuse joints together in the area you have arthritis, to reduce the friction in the area. Bone trimming removes any spurs or growths that have formed as a result of your arthritis.
Stem cell therapy
Stem cell therapy is an innovative regenerative treatment that heals your arthritis nonsurgically. In this procedure, our doctors inject healthy stem cells into the part of your foot with arthritis. This causes your foot to grow new cartilage, reducing your symptoms.
If arthritis in your feet is causing you pain and discomfort, our team at Podiatry Hotline Foot & Ankle can help. Schedule your appointment with our doctors online or by calling us.