What Is Arthritis Foot Pain?
Arthritis refers to the inflammation of joints of the body, which ultimately causes pain. There are many forms of arthritis that affects various parts of the body, some of these conditions include arthritis foot pain, arthritis back pain and arthritis hand. Hence, foot pain is the inflammation of the joint in the foot, which leads to damage, and pain of the foot.
How Does Arthritis Affect The Foot?
Generally what happens is that foot joint inflammation occurs due to the swelling of the lining of the joints and cartilage, which can also lead to the increase of joint fluid. This overall can cause great discomfort to the foot, which leads to arthritis foot pain.
The Types of Arthritis Foot Pain
There are a wide variety of causes of arthritis. That being said, two most popular causes of arthritis foot pain include rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease, which basically means that the host immune system does not recognize itself; instead it sees itself as foreign and will initiate an immune response to the area of the body it sees as foreign. It is a chronic and systemic disease leading to various foot problems such as hammertoes and bunions.
Osteoarthritis, also known as degenerative arthritis, is caused by shock and other and infection to the joint. Alternatively, it can also be caused by age and obesity.
Other forms of foot arthritis can be caused by heredity factors, injury and strains to the foot, various infections caused by bacteria and viruses that target the joints, various disorders including colitis and ileitis and finally drug use or drug abuse.
Arthritis Foot Pain And Its Symptoms
The obvious symptom here would be pains to the foot joint where it is swollen. Movement may also be hindered due to the pain. Other symptoms of arthritis include morning sickness, recurring pain of a joint, rashes, redness and heat in the joint.
Relieving Arthritis Foot Pain
Physical exercise and movement is a way to relieve the joints. Low impact activities are recommended, examples include swimming and walking. Massaging the foot can also relieve its symptoms. In addition to exercises, medication can be used. Some of these come in the form of creams whilst others as tablets. Examples include anti-inflammatory creams, aspirin, supplements like glucosamine and chondroitin. Finally, in order to soothe the pain during everyday activities padded yet spacious footwear can be worn, rocker bottom soles and various supports to decrease stress on the foot as well as digital devices to soothe and support the foot whilst protecting and straightening the toes.
Main Categories of Arthritis
Arthritis is a disease that brings on stiffness and pain with swelling and it affects the muscles and the bones, especially the joints where it causes the most damage. The bones are protected in the joints by tissue called cartilage which acts as a buffer between the ends.
The cells that the cartilage is made up of are known as the chondrocytes and function just like other glands and organs in the body. All chondrocytes will die and are usually replaced by new cartilage cells.
Over an extended period of time, the inflammation can kill more of the cartilage cells than the body is able to replace. This happens when the body is not healthy and suffers from malnutrition, injury can also be another cause. The condition causes damage where instability, deformities and joint weakness can obstruct daily life. Generally, arthritis can be treated with physical therapy, medication, and changes to the lifestyle the individual is used to living. If all zero or less intrusive interventions give no relief then as a last option joint replacement surgery can be used.
Arthritis has two main categories which is based on the areas of the body affected, ‘localized’ or ‘generalized’; this is further divided in to sub categories. The two localized conditions are bursitis and tendonitis; they affect the soft tissues surrounding the bones and joints. A sub-category of this affects one or some of the joints like hip or knee joints. A generalized arthritis condition is a condition where the muscles and the soft tissues become damaged, in this condition there is no swelling or any kind of inflammation on the joints. Fibromyalgia, even though it isn’t associated with joint damage, is a very common form which can be placed under this particular category.
Another sub-category involves inflammation affecting the entire body. Gout, psoriatic arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are examples of this condition. Still other generalized situations include polymyositis, involving muscles, systemic lupus erythematosus involving the skin, kidneys and or other organs and vasculitis where any organ is involved.
A person can have more than one type of arthritis and it includes more than 100 medical conditions that affect approximately 46 million adults and 300,000 children in the United States. Osteoarthritis is a condition mostly noticed in adults over 60 years, however, it can start at infancy too. The number of people suffering out of this condition is increasing proportionally with the increasing average age of the American population; with old age setting in people suffering with arthritis is increasing day by day.
Medical care and indirect expenses costs over 124 billion dollars in the US where arthritis and related problems are the main cause of disability. Individuals can help prevent osteoarthritis by following a few simple steps: Maintaining appropriate weight and consuming fresh fruits and vegetables as a good source of vitamins c and d. By taking the time to make sure that you are consuming enough calcium, participate in regular exercise and avoiding injuries that are brought about due to sports activities, you can also help with prevention of this condition.
