What is Arthritis?

Arthritis is an inflammation of one or more of your joints. There are more than 100 different types of arthritis, with different causes and treatment methods. Two of the most common types are osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In the lower extremity, the joints that are typically affected are your knee, ankle and the small joints in your feet. Osteoarthritis causes destruction of cartilage inside the joint, the hard, slippery tissue that covers the ends of bones where they form a join to break down. On an x-ray it appears as joint space narrowing, bone spur formation and swelling around the joint.

Causes

The biggest cause of osteoarthritis in lower extremity is trauma, followed by age and weight as well as change in structure of the foot due to altered biomechanics. Other causes include inflammatory conditions such as gouty arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis to name a few.

Symptoms

• Early morning stiffness
• Limitation in motion of joint
• Redness or heat in a joint
• Bone spurs and joint swelling
• Skin changes

Diagnosis

Your foot doctor will obtain a thorough history along with examination of your foot such as range of motion in all of the joints. You may also require x-rays and or blood test to narrow down the diagnosis and treatment.