ORTHOPEDICS/LEG, FOOT & ANKLE
Foot symptoms/Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an acute disease that can cause serious pain and joint deformity.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a shocking diagnosis.
RA had been seemed for a long time ago to be an incurable illness.
Actually, Therapy alternatives are more advanced allowing people with RA to live complete and active days.
Painfulness and inflammation in the hands and feet are one of the early symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis.
From one day to another, most people with RA wake up and realize that the joints in the ball or sole of their feet are so painful when walking.
At the same time, they might also notice their fingers harden while trying to open a bottle, or that they cannot curve certain finger joints while cooking because it’s so painful as well.
As the illness progresses, pain and toughness may extent to the wrists, elbows, shoulders, knees, ankles, and hips.
Rheumatoid Arthritis Reasons
With RA, the joint tissues are attacked by the body’s immune system, resulting an inflammation, which can cause advanced damage to the affected joints.
Explicitly, this immune system attacks the fluid within joints as well as the joint coating, known by synovium.
Therefore, the synovium is inflamed, causing a warm and distended joint.
If kept without therapy, persistent inflammation may expressly corrode the cartilage and bone that leads to joint deformity followed by a decreasing to the motion range.
In addition, this inflammation may weaken the muscles, tendons, and ligaments that surround and stabilize the joints.
RA Affects Parts of the Foot
At the feet level, RA classically affects the metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joints of the toes.
When RA insistently affects the MTP joints, a gradual outward (lateral) shift in the toes can arise. (This may cause both feet to develop bunions (hallux valgus).
RA may also cause the forefoot instability that leads to toe contractures, such as hammertoes.
Toe contractures and modifications in toe joint flexibility will repeatedly lead to calluses and pain beneath the ball of the foot.
All of these alterations to a foot’s structure and shape can make finding any a comfortable shoe more problematic for an RA victim.
The ankle joint and the talonavicular joint are also exposed to be affected by RA.
RA pain differ from the more common osteoarthritis (OA) pain because multiple joints are frequently affected at the same time.
One more aspect may distinguish RA from OA is the leaning for RA to cause a longer period of painfulness in the early mornings.
Note that RA causes a long lasting pain while OA pain may decrease after a few minutes of warming in the morning.
Other Foot Problems Related to RA
Heel pain:
This is a common repeated difficulty for people with RA.
Disorders related to heel pain include plantar fasciitis (heel limb syndrome), Achilles tendonitis, and retrocalcaneal bursitis.
Retrocalcaneal bursitis happens when the fluid-filled sac (bursa) behind the heel bone is inflamed and causes severe pain.
Nerve entrapment syndromes:
When RA inflames the joint coating (synovium), the inflammation can compress nerves known as a nerve entrapment.
One common nerve entrapment in the foot is called tarsal tunnel syndrome that evolves burning, stinging, or shooting pain in the the foot’s arch and sole zone.
Rheumatoid nodules:
A rheumatoid nodule is like a lump beneath the skin evolving frequently over a bony prominence or tendon.
In the foot, a rheumatoid nodule appears mostly over the Achilles tendon.
Skin rashes: The inflammation related to RA can affect small blood vessels, which in turn can cause certain skin appearances, including rashes or injuries on the lower legs.
Another skin finding related to RA is hemorrhages particles that are small zones of broken blood vessels typically seen on the fingernails sides or the toenails.
To conclude
The most important thing to know is that there are many pharmacological therapy alternatives to manage all the aspects of the disease, including foot manifestations.
Finally, it is recommended to consult a Rheumatologist to help pain relief and avoid joint inflammation and damage.