Arthritis Of The Toes - Symptoms, Treatment, Diet

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 21:43

Arthritis of the toes

Content:

• Leg arthritis symptoms
• Causes of leg arthritis
• Leg arthritis treatment

Toe arthritis is an inflammatory disease that affects the affected joints. In some types of arthritis, patients suffer not only joints, but also internal organs - heart, kidneys, liver.

Arthritis often leads to disability. Therefore, it is so important to seek help from a specialist already at the first signs of the disease.

In the vast majority of cases, arthritis of the toes begins to develop in both men and women after age 60. However, some types of arthritis can occur even in early childhood.

Toe arthritis symptoms

Each arthritis has its own characteristics, but these diseases are united by common symptoms:

• Night pains. All types of arthritis are characterized by a special pain regime: pain in inflamed joints occurs at rest at night - usually between 3 and 5 am;
• Swelling of the joints. Inflammation of any of the four toes other than the big one is most common in rheumatoid arthritis. In this case, the joints of the lower extremities are always inflamed symmetrically (for example, both little fingers);
• Reactive arthritis, which begins with inflammation of the joints of the thumb or adjacent second toes;
• Gouty arthritis, one of the first signs of which is unbearable pain in the toes;
• In psoriatic arthritis and less commonly in reactive arthritis, sore fingers swell from tip to base and look like sausages;

• Changes in the skin over sore joints. Almost always, the skin over the affected joints turns red or bluish and becomes hot to the touch.

In some cases, patients may also have other accompanying symptoms of toe arthritis:

• Moderate increase in body temperature up to 38C (usually with rheumatoid or reactive arthritis);
• Chills;
• Conjunctivitis (an additional symptom of reactive arthritis);
• Feeling weak;
• Restless sleep, insomnia;
• Decreased appetite, weight loss (with rheumatoid arthritis).

As any arthritis develops without adequate treatment, patients experience irreversible deformation of the joints of the toes.

Causes of Toe Arthritis

Depending on the type of arthritis, one or several reasons may serve as an impetus for its development:

• Hereditary factor. This predisposition to the disease is characteristic of psoriatic and gouty arthritis. But, despite this, in patients with gout, the disease may not manifest itself at all if they lead a healthy lifestyle. And to provoke the development of gouty arthritis in them can abuse alcohol or "purine" foods (meat, meat soups, offal, beans, chocolate, wine);
• Infections. This factor in the development of the disease is characteristic of reactive and rheumatoid arthritis. Most often, reactive arthritis is a consequence of latent genital infections. The development of rheumatoid arthritis is also based on infections, but flu, tonsillitis, acute respiratory infections are most often provocateurs;
• Injuries. The cause of arthritis in the toe can be household injuries - dislocations, fractures. "Professional" arthritis can occur in athletes, dancers, etc.;
• Load on the legs. Arthritis can be triggered by increased pressure on the joints due to excess weight, regular lifting of weights, improperly selected shoes, flat feet;
• Chronic stress. When combined with an infectious disease or injury, stress can trigger the development of psoriatic or rheumatoid arthritis.

On the subject: Traditional methods of treating arthritis

Toe Arthritis Treatment

A whole range of medicines is used to treat arthritis:

• Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (ibuprofen, diclofenac, indomethacin, etc.). These remedies help reduce inflammation and joint pain;
• Chondroprotectors (glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, arthra, arthroflex, chondro, etc.). These drugs contain substances that help restore the structure of damaged joint cartilage;
• Compresses (Dimexide, bischofite, medical bile). They are used for external use to reduce inflammation in the joints, for mild pain relieving effect and as a warming agent.

During treatment for some arthritis, your doctor may prescribe additional medications, such as corticosteroids, immunosuppressants, or other medications.

With rheumatoid and gouty arthritis of the toes, it is imperative that in addition to drugs, patients are prescribed a special diet. In these diseases, there is a clear relationship between the use of certain types of foods and the exacerbation of the inflammatory process.

With rheumatoid arthritis, doctors recommend limiting, or better excluding, wheat, corn, citrus fruits, and dairy products from the diet. Patients benefit from the use of fish, seafood, vegetables, fruits, buckwheat and some other products.

Patients with gout are strongly advised to exclude or severely limit the consumption of meat, sausages, canned food, any broth (except vegetable), fatty fish, legumes, sour varieties of vegetables, chocolate, coffee, tea, alcoholic beverages.

After removing the inflammation, with persistent remission, some types of physiotherapy can be recommended for patients with arthritis of the toes: therapeutic mud, paraffin therapy, etc. In the absence of contraindications, therapeutic massage and / or therapeutic gymnastics can also be prescribed.

Arthritis is a serious inflammatory disease that, if left untreated, can lead to disability. Timely diagnostics, seeking advice from a rheumatologist and properly prescribed treatment allow patients to stop the disease and lead their usual way of life for many years.

Author of the article: Kaplan Alexander Sergeevich | Orthopedist

Education: diploma in the specialty "General Medicine" received in 2009 at the Medical Academy. I. M. Sechenov. In 2012 completed postgraduate studies in Traumatology and Orthopedics at the City Clinical Hospital named after Botkin at the Department of Traumatology, Orthopedics and Disaster Surgery.