Do you suffer from the common symptoms of arthritis such as swollen joints, joint pain, hand pain, ankle pain, hand swelling, red joints, morning stiffness, joint stiffness, joint swelling, and painful movements? If you notice yourself suffering from any of these symptoms, we extremely recommend scheduling an appointment with Dr. Titko at our Cincinnati podiatrist offices as soon as possible.

What is Arthritis?

Arthritis is a disease which causes inflammation, as well as a whole host of symptoms, severe pain and restricts the movement. Additionally, arthritis affects the movements you rely on to perform your everyday activities. The area where two joints meet can become inflamed and contract arthritis. When this occurs, patients begin to report joint pain and other common symptoms. More than 100 kinds of arthritis exist; degenerative osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and gout are the most common.

Possible Causes of Arthritis

Some causes depend on the type of arthritis diagnosed. Additionally, there are several risk factors that may make patients more prone to develop arthritis.

Several Risk factors and causes of arthritis include:

• Metabolic abnormalities
• Indirect and direct consequences of infections
• Gender
• Family history (genetic factors)
• Past joint injuries
• Obesity
• Age

Symptoms of Arthritis

The symptoms of arthritis are mentioned earlier, but they are worth mentioning repeatedly. Here are the common symptoms a lot of arthritis sufferers endure such as:

• Joint pain
• Joint swelling
• Joint stiffness
• Hand pain
• Ankle pain
• Hand swelling
• Red joints
• Swollen joints
• Morning stiffness
• Painful movements

The hardness of symptoms will depend on each person. Symptoms also differ depending on the type of arthritis; rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis are the two common types of arthritis. At the first sign of these symptoms, you should make an appointment with our Cincinnati podiatrist immediately to look at your arthritis in feet.

Types of Arthritis

Osteoarthritis

The usual common form of arthritis in feet is called degenerative joint disease or wear and tear arthritis. It can be brought on by a sudden injury, but its onset is usually gradual. As a person ages, their cartilage breaks down and the pain can become progressively worse. Patients who experience this form of arthritis in feet usually experience a dull, throbbing nighttime pain that may be accompanied by muscle weakness and deterioration. In some cases, the person’s walk may be erratic. It is particularly troublesome in overweight people. With so many joints in the foot, the extra weight can contribute to a rapid deterioration of cartilage and the development of bone spurs.

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)

Rheumatoid arthritis is a major crippling disorder and the common serious form of arthritis. It is a complex, chronic inflammatory group of disorders, often affecting more than a dozen smaller joints during its way. In the foot, it commonly affects both ankles and toes. Instead of the body breaking down over time, RA is a matter of your body hitting itself. In this autoimmune disorder, your immune system recognizes the lining of your joints as an internal threat and attacks the joint, creating damage to the bone and joint surfaces.

Gout (gouty arthritis)

This extremely painful condition is caused by a buildup of dietary salts in the joints. It usually affects the big toe, possibly because we use it so heavily when walking, and is typically more painful than any other form of arthritis in the feet. Men are more likely to be affected than women, and this indicates that heredity may play a vital role in the disease. We usually associate gout with a diet heavy in things like red meat, red wine, and shellfish, but protein compounds in lentils and beans are also thought to play a role.

Enduring and Living With Arthritis

If you have to live with arthritis, you reasonably want to live as pain-free and symptom-free as possible, right? How do you make this? A few tactics to endure and live with arthritis:

Lose weight. You do not want to take around extra weight all day. Extra weight places a lot of stress on the joints, which can probably cause arthritis down the road. Rather, lose the excess weight and sense how it feels to have healthy joints.

Use cold and heat therapy. For days when you feel joint pain or other arthritis-related symptoms, use a combination of cold and heat therapies to reduce the pain. We suggest using ice packs or heating pads.

Exercise as much as possible. We know it may be really difficult to exercise a lot while you are experiencing arthritis pain. We are not telling to overdo it. What we are saying is to keep up with a daily exercise routine, whether that means gaining a leisure walk a few times per week, riding a bicycle, swimming, or water aerobics. Choose the exercises that give the least amount of stress on the joints causing you pain, and hold with an exercise plan to keep the joints moving and to lose extra pounds.

A Proper Diagnosis is Necessary To Identify the Type of Arthritis

If you are experiencing pain, stiffness, excessive warmth around the joints, visit The Center for Foot Care in the Cincinnati area at your earliest convenience. Arthritis may be treated in several ways, but only a qualified, professional Cincinnati podiatrist should diagnose and treat such a complex disease. For more information about arthritis or to make an appointment, call us today.

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