How to prevent and how to treat osteoarthrosis of the foot?

Joint diseases always deliver pain and suffering to a person. Particularly hard is a person with diseases of the joints of the feet and feet.

Each movement when walking leads a person to suffer, and untimely treatment can provoke partial immobility of a person up to disability.

Osteoarthritis of the foot is one of such dangerous diseases, the treatment of which must be performed immediately, until irreversible consequences have begun.

The concept and characteristics of the disease

The foot has a variety of small joints, which in the process of human activity have the maximum load.

Osteoarthrosis of the foot is a premature degenerative-dystrophic change in the cartilaginous tissue of the joints, which often occurs in middle-aged people.

However, through the modern rhythm of life, as well as the spread of low-quality footwear in the sale of the presented disease, many young people suffer, where most of the patients are made up of the fair sex.

It is girls who prefer to wear high-heeled shoes, what even more "load" the already vulnerable joints of feet.

Osteoarthritis is dangerous for its development. When untimely intervention in the treatment of the presented disease, the destroyed parts of the cartilaginous tissue begin to accumulate calcium salts themselves by the formation of collagen.

This leads to deformation of the joints of the foot and immobility, which contributes to the loss of motor activity. As a result, a person by right can consider himself an invalid. This is easily avoided if you consult a doctor already at the first manifestations of pain syndrome in the joints of the foot.

Causes of

development Among the reasons for the development of joint osteoarthritis, the feet are allocated:

• injuries, dislocations and fractures that have not been previously treated;
• increased foot stress - long standing on the legs or playing sports( jogging);
• various metabolic disorders - an overabundance or lack of a certain beneficial microelement for the organism;
• various endocrine diseases - diabetes mellitus, an increase or decrease in the thyroid gland, a predisposition for the deposition of calcium salts in the joints;
• disturbed circulation - the feet and toes are always cold;
• excess weight, which causes the additional load on the legs;
• flat feet and other deformities of foot and arch;
• sports, where the joints of the feet are involved - athletics, gymnastics, dances and other varieties;
• long stay in narrow and uncomfortable shoes.

An important role is given to frivolity in the manifestation of the pain syndrome in the joints, which disappears after a short rest.

Degrees of development of pathology

There are 4 degrees of osteoarthritis of the foot, each of which has its own symptoms:

1. The first degree of is characterized by questionable radiographic signs - the doctor can not exactly determine how seriously the destruction is. The patient, as a rule, feels discomfort after a long load on his legs. Sometimes aches give way to pain when moving.
2. The second degree already diagnoses the development of osteophytes, which leads to narrowing of the joint gap. Here, pain occurs every time you move in all affected joints.
3. The third degree of characterizes a significant reduction in the joint gap, which leads to a characteristic joint crunch during movements.
4. The fourth degree of is characterized by the complete disappearance of the joint space. A person experiences pain, you can visually detect the onset of the inflammatory process, palpation increases the temperature of the skin.

The photo shows how the deforming osteoarthritis of the foot

is manifested. It is necessary to consult a doctor at the first stage of the disease development, until osteophytes - bone growths began to form, which lead to irreversibility of the process.

All treatment will be aimed at stopping and partially reducing the formation of osteophytes. It is difficult to completely rid the person of bone growths.

Diagnostics - goals and methods

To diagnose a patient, it is enough to undergo an X-ray examination.

An X-ray photograph gives an opportunity for a specialist to determine the degree of the development of the disease, which completely determines the further examination.

Therapy of pathology

Treatment of osteoarthrosis of the foot should only take place under the close scrutiny of the doctor.

If you have already applied at the stage of serious pain manifestations, the specialist will prescribe medication, where there will be taking medications such as:

1. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or analgesic and which will quickly relieve the pain syndrome, which will greatly alleviate the suffering.
2. Chondroprotectors are drugs that have a positive effect on cartilage tissue, restoring it.

Among other things, conservative methods of treatment include such methods of treatment of osteoarthritis, as:

• therapeutic foot massage, which is performed only by a specialist, then continues to the patient;
• physiotherapeutic procedures - electrophoresis, ultrasound and magnetotherapy;
• physical exercises as exercise therapy, also conducted only under the supervision of a specialist;
• various baths, where medicines used to eliminate inflammation are used;
• as a treatment should abandon uncomfortable shoes and replace it with orthopedic;
• for some relief recommended the use of traditional medicine.

If conservative methods of treatment do not help, doctors at the consultation decide to perform an operation to remove osteophytes.

Remember that at the initial stage, all treatment can be reduced to general actions and recommendations designed to prevent osteoarthritis of the foot. In other cases, conservative treatment can lead to surgical intervention.

Preventative measures

It is recommended to change your lifestyle as a prophylaxis for the patient. Here you need to lose weight, give up uncomfortable shoes, in extreme cases, at least use orthopedic insoles.

Changes should occur in the diet. So, people who are inclined or have already cured the disease should eat fruits and vegetables that are enriched with vitamins, which means they can feed damaged ligaments - this will help prevent destruction.

Take care of your health and contact your doctor for help with the first manifestations of the disease.