Foot Osteoarthritis

[Janf1952]

Has anyone on here had the bones in their foot fused. My pain started in 2009 and I was told then to try insoles first, then injections and finally fusing. Im told that I wont have the range of motions in my foot but will have no pain. Is anyone on here able to tell me if you can lead a normal life as I love to walk my dog and at the moment Im forcing myself to do this. Im 65.

[Hidden]

I'm going to follow your post as I would be interested to know about this also. I have had injections and insoles and find I cannot walk very far now as it's so painful I lose my balance a lot now as my ankles seem to be unstable and I also don't always seem to be in control of my feet and have had many falls. I love walking and gardening and hate sitting watching the telly. I hope you get some good advice

[Janf1952 in reply to Hidden]

I have found using a TENS m/c does help a little. And also that no matter how difficult it is to walk, you must try as I find that just sitting makes it worse. I have recently got a puppy and she has motivated me. It wouldn't be fair to her if I didn't at least try my hardest. Im trying to lose weight too as I know the heavier you are the more your joints suffer. So far I haven't taken any medication and hope I never will. Good luck with your treatment.

Jan

[Kaz4Eddie]

Hi there. I too am going to follow your post and progress. Have exactly the same issues. I was diagnosed with OA in my wrists and feet last October. I have been unable to work since November which is devastating. No pain management has worked and I have got progressively worse over the months. I will be 53 in July and have always been extremely active, fit and healthy. This came out of the blue in a matter of weeks. I now struggle to walk or stand for any length of time. I struggle with my hands doing normal tasks. It's totally depressing tbh. My mood is low, constantly tired and terrible concentration. No light at the end of the tunnel. I too was prescribed insoles which whilst more comfortable to not reduce pain. Tomorrow I am going for steroid injections in my feet. The Consultant is hoping that this will give me some level of pain relief. Fingers crossed! xx

[Janf1952]

I hope the injections help you. I must say mine worked for a while but eventually the pain returned so I hope you are luckier than me. The trouble with my feet has caused problems with both knees and also one of my hips. I think the NHS have been useless so I am seeing a chiropodist next Friday as the insoles have caused corns and an ingrowing toenail! Like you I was always fit and healthy if somewhat overweight but I lost over 4 stone using a treadmill daily and this is when my problems exacerbated. They tell you to swim but I really hate swimming and I've no-one to go with anyway as I live alone.

I will wait to see what the chiropodist says and will certainly post any finds on here.

Good luck with your injections!

[Janf1952]

Out of interest I went to see a chiropodist to treat a corn and an ingrowing toenail but after chatting for a while she has taught me so much more about problems caused by gait than I ever learned from the podiatry dept at my local hospital. I would strongly suggest a visit if you are having problems of this nature if only to forward any info given to your podiatry dept!

I have also championed the use of TENS m/c's for pain management. The battery is flat on mine and Im rushing out to get a new battery today!

[Roxhouse]

Hi, I've had one of my feet done. I had the MTP joint fused. I do have osteoarthritis in other joints of the same foot and also my other foot has the same problem. I had this done two years ago at age 42 because of the severe pain. I'm going to tell you the good and bad of it. After the healing is done the pain reduction is good. Every once in a while I'll get a few twinges, but mostly over all the pain has been greatly reduced. The down side is that after that initial healing it takes ages (for me, it was about 18 months) to be able to start wearing low heeled anything. You might find you have to change shoe size as well due to the non movement of your foot. So yes, you will eventually feel normal again but it does take the body a while to get used to it. Unless you are like me and have osteoarthritis in numerous other joints in your body lol! I never have a day without some sort of pain so decided that having the other foot done would not be worth it. Wishing you all the best x