Arthritis in feet????

snowmelts

A CT scan will show much more about what's is going on in the softer connective tissues than a bone X-ray will.

Osteoarthritis is a disease of connective tissue like cartilidge which surrounds and protects as well as pads joint bones. It's not actually a bone disease.
However when the cartilidge gets OA it shrinks, disappears and it's not being proper padding anymore causes wear and tear of bones at the joints. That bone wear and tear causes pain and does show up on a bone X-ray.

I have OA in my feet as well as heel bone spurs.
Mine was seen in X-rays.

There are actually 33 joints in each foot.
The 5 small bones on top of your arch area sort of float and when OA sets into the connective tissue in that area its painful surrounding those foot bones.

YES, I did think I'd broken my foot when it suddenly appeared.. but it was both feet and I had done nothing to them.. so an X-ray showed the problem.
Steroid shot for the heel bone spur pain and about ten days later a perscription for Tramadol for the arthritis pain and swelling.

(yes, the left foot got VERY swollen and red. Could not even get my shoe on. For me The right foot is not as bad)

BTW arthritis is forever. Some days are better than others. Medicatons can control pain but so far there is no cure.

worryinginBC

Thankyou Snowmelts. I am so hoping it is not arthritis because, like you said, it is forever. A few questions about arthritis. Does it hurt most of the time? A dull ache? Is the skin around the area tender to touch softly like it would be with a scrap? Does the pain radiate somewhat? Does overuse make it worse? When I actually use it, it is not bad. But when I am done for the day, it hurts then. I have not noticed if the weather affects it. Is it common to get it the same two bones in each foot?

I have arthritis in one finger and it feels nothing like my feet. My left is much worse than my right.

Thanks Again

snowmelts

YES. Depending on your defination of "hurts" of course. I've had it a year now.
There are good days and monster days but never a day of "forgot I had it"

Good day = dull ache, Someone is holding the front of my foot and another arm is holding the back and they are twisting my foot in opposite directions.. like they were wringing out a towel.

Not on a good day. But that's actually hard for me to answer since I also have Pheriphail Neuropathy (PN) unrelated to my arthritis in my feet and legs. The PN makes my skin itself tingle so I can't tell if the skin reacts to arthritis or not, but I don't think it does when the foot is not swollen and red

Radiates burning pain up my ankle and out to my toes too!

Definately

Right, always bothers me worse after useing it

cold bothers mine badly

I don't know what is common to the general arthritis suffer.
Mine is in both feet around the bones that are in the mid foot basicaly above the arch. I also have heel bone spurs as a fringe benifit.

My left foot is worse than my right.
When it's being a bad monster it's swollen hugely, a sore intenal burning feeling and it gets inflamed red looking and I cannot put weight on it.

Tramadol pain pills are wonderful at getting rid of that pain for me, but they make me very sleepy so I take one at night before bed on the very worse days. Sometimes I only take half of a pill and other times I use a Tylenol Arthritis instead.

I find a cold pack for 20 min (with a towel between my skin and the cold pack) helps reduce the swelling and reduces the burning feeling.

I also have arthritis up my entire spine and both knees.
The foot arthritis acts entirely diff than any of my other arthritis has.

There have been sporatic days when I used a cane to keep weight off that left foot. Not often but there have been days.

My Dr suggested soft gel over the counter shoe heel insets (like Dr Scholls) and told me it's best if I have lots of soft rugs to step on instead of hard floors.

stepbystep89

I also have arthritis in my foot.

Mine is a result of an ankle injury. I know that may sound strange, but due to a pilon fracture in my right ankle, I have had my ankle fused. Actually, it was due to the arthritis pain I suffered from the osteoarthritis that attacked the cartilege in my ankle and destroyed it.

Now, there is an increase in the pressure put on the joints below my ankle since my ankle no longer moves like it was built to do. Some of the joints in my foot that are the closest to my ankle, are trying to move from side to side now that my ankle is not able to. Therefore, arthritis has set in and started to eat away at the cartilege in some of the joints in my foot.

I have found a few things helpful in managing the pain and symptoms I experience from the arthritis. The first thing I can tell you is to buy good shoes. I know money is not easy to come by for most of us lately due to the gas prices, but in order to take care of my feet I buy really good shoes. New Balance are great tennis shoes, and if you go to one of the New Balance stores instead of the store in the mall who sells name brand sneakers, the sales people have been trained in what shoes to fit to different conditions people suffer from. I have always had good luck there.

Second, I get a lot of relief from elevating my foot whenever I am at home. It is really easy to put my foot on top of a pile of pillows while I am watching t.v. and every night when I go to bed. When I wake up in the morning, my ankle and foot are back to the normal size and shape. That is a great accomplishment compared to what they look like when I get home from work.

Third, I try to manage the activity and the amount of time I spend on my feet. Notice I used the word "manage" and not "decrease." That is because if I think about decreasing what I do it makes me depressed. I have always been an active person, and I don't like to feel defeated, so I choose to empower myself through my language. Managing my activity means I make choices about how much and what I am going to do each day when I get up in the morning. If I would like to go for a nice walk after dinner, I am not going to do my weekly grocery shopping the same day. If I am going to have a garage sale, I try to remember to alternate my work from standing jobs to sitting jobs.

Fourth, I have learned acceptance has been key to my pain management this time around. When I broke my ankle, I dealt with the pain by telling myself it was temporary. I did the same thing each time I had surgery for the arthritis. Now, I have constant chronic pain, so it has been disappointing to learn there is no cure and no relief that is 100%. While I was angry, frustrated, and extremely stressed about my situation, my pain level was extremely high. Now that I have accepted this is the way it is going to be and made a mental shift, my pain has already decreased somewhat.

Finally, I would like to tell you that coming here and asking for advice is definitely a bonus. When I began my journey with my ankle/foot I did not have this available. I kept thinking it would be so helpful to have other people going through similar things to talk with and ask questions. Now, we have this tool and this means of communicating with others. I have found it extremely helpful. Sometimes, it is comforting just to know you are not alone.

You are getting great advice and information here. Keep coming back and posting!

Step