Causes, symptoms, and treatment of pain in the joints of the feet

Pain in the joints of the feet can be caused by inflammation of the tissues or disruption of their power (dystrophy). In the first case we speak about arthritis, the second on osteoarthritis.

Arthritis can be acute with the development of pain, swelling and temperature rise and then move into the chronic phase. While osteoarthritis has a primary chronic course. Often on the background of long-existing inflammation develops dystrophy. Such a mixed pathology is called artrose-arthritis.

Cause of disease

In the etiology of arthritis play the role of the following factors:

• infection getting into the joint cavity externally for wounds, injuries or operations;
• infection propagating from the internal media (for rheumatism, sepsis)
• autoimmune disorders (rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus), in which joint tissue is perceived by the immune system as foreign.

Thus, the inflammation may be of infectious or autoimmune nature. Osteoarthritis, in turn, occurs:

• in private injuries;
• at chronic elevated loads (athletes, movers and overweight);
• in the propensity to increased deposition of salts (gout)
• congenital anomalies of the articular cartilage and ligaments;
• on the background of long-existing inflammation.

Symptoms

joint Disease of the feet most often affect the knees. Arthritis of the knee joint will experience pain, aggravated by flexion of the leg at the knee and stepping on it. At the touch of the skin in the area of inflammation will be hot, you may experience swelling and even redness of the skin. Often the disease is accompanied by fever and severe intoxication.

After a few days of acute arthritis either passes completely or transformed into a chronic form, periodically sharpening.

In osteoarthritis such striking manifestations is not observed. The pain is aching in nature twist. It is especially pronounced in the morning and gradually decreases throughout the day as joint. Running osteoarthritis may be accompanied by limited mobility and even complete ankylosis (joint gap overgrowth of bone tissue) with deformity of the extremities with thickening of the affected area.

Treatment

Arthritis of infectious origin mainly in the treatment is antibiotics, sometimes they are injected locally into the joint cavity. A good anti-inflammatory effect and steroid hormones. In rheumatoid arthritis patients also receive treatment with immunosuppressants, which reduce the damaging effects of immune complexes, as well as NSAIDs.

In osteoarthritis of the reception of chondroprotectors that slow down the destruction of cartilage tissue, enhancing metabolic processes in it. Equally important are therapeutic exercise, physical therapy and massage.