Online clinic on arthritis & pain management - Oct 2016
Other types of arthritis (e.g. spondylitis, spondylosis, rheumatica, polymyalgia, fibromyalgia)
Arthritis
Moderator: talkhealth
Arthritis
My wife suffers from arthritis. She has been diagnosed with arthritis and osteoarthritis. The biggest problem she has is with her feet/ankles. They are very swollen and she has a lot of pain when she walks. She is on medication and has had a new shock treatment recently. However I just worry about her so much as she has so much difficulty walking. Is there anything she could do to help herself, excercises, other medication for specially to reduce the swelling.
- Arthritis Action
- Posts: 97
- Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2016 1:27 pm
Re: Arthritis
Hello,
Ankle swelling can be caused by arthritis but there are some other medical causes too, including heart problems, so you should make sure that your wife has been investigated for these things as she may need a different type of treatment. I am not familiar with shock treatment for arthritis. In general, exercise for arthritis cannot hurt the joints but it can be difficult especially if her feet are painful. She should make sure that she has supportive shoes with thick soles and may need to but shoes which are larger than usual. If her ankles and feet swell more later in the day, she may be helped by resting her feet on a stool to reduce the effects of gravity. If the swelling is caused by inflammatory arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis, she should speak to a consultant rheumatologist as she may need alternative treatments.
Wendy
Dr Wendy Holden
Medical Advisor to Arthritis Action and Consultant Rheumatologist
www.arthritisaction.org.uk /
info@arthritisaction.org /
Ankle swelling can be caused by arthritis but there are some other medical causes too, including heart problems, so you should make sure that your wife has been investigated for these things as she may need a different type of treatment. I am not familiar with shock treatment for arthritis. In general, exercise for arthritis cannot hurt the joints but it can be difficult especially if her feet are painful. She should make sure that she has supportive shoes with thick soles and may need to but shoes which are larger than usual. If her ankles and feet swell more later in the day, she may be helped by resting her feet on a stool to reduce the effects of gravity. If the swelling is caused by inflammatory arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis, she should speak to a consultant rheumatologist as she may need alternative treatments.
Wendy
Dr Wendy Holden
Medical Advisor to Arthritis Action and Consultant Rheumatologist
www.arthritisaction.org.uk /
info@arthritisaction.org /
Arthritis Action
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http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/Ch ... action.php
- Lee Murphy
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 10:29 am
Re: Arthritis
As above, there are lots of potential causes of ankle swelling and some may not be associated with having arthritis. Of course, if the swelling is due to something else, this does not rule out arthritis as it is common to have more than one health problem as time goes by sadly.kman3555 wrote:My wife suffers from arthritis. She has been diagnosed with arthritis and osteoarthritis. The biggest problem she has is with her feet/ankles. They are very swollen and she has a lot of pain when she walks. She is on medication and has had a new shock treatment recently. However I just worry about her so much as she has so much difficulty walking. Is there anything she could do to help herself, excercises, other medication for specially to reduce the swelling.
I assume the shock treatment is 'extra corporeal shockwave therapy'? ESWT? Please can you give us some more information about who did this for her and what other treatments she might have tried? Insoles? Braces? Injections? Who diagnosed her with osteoarthritis of her feet? Has she had any x-rays or scans?
Lee Murphy
Consultant Podiatric Surgeon - MRes FCPodS
http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/on ... murphy.php
Consultant Podiatric Surgeon - MRes FCPodS
http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/on ... murphy.php
- Arthritis Care
- Posts: 49
- Joined: Tue Sep 27, 2016 10:27 am
Re: Arthritis
Hi kman,
I'm sorry to hear about your wife's problems with managing her arthritis. It's always going to be important that she can think about her daily self-management. This is mainly about eating a balanced diet to keep body weight down and doing plenty of gentle movements (to keep muscles strong and flexible). A physiotherapist can advise if your wife would like some support.
If she'd like a chat she'd be most welcome to speak to us on our freephone helpline.
https://www.arthritiscare.org.uk/managing-arthritis
Tel 0808 800 4050 10am - 4pm weekdays.
Kind regards
Guy
Arthritis Care Helpline
I'm sorry to hear about your wife's problems with managing her arthritis. It's always going to be important that she can think about her daily self-management. This is mainly about eating a balanced diet to keep body weight down and doing plenty of gentle movements (to keep muscles strong and flexible). A physiotherapist can advise if your wife would like some support.
If she'd like a chat she'd be most welcome to speak to us on our freephone helpline.
https://www.arthritiscare.org.uk/managing-arthritis
Tel 0808 800 4050 10am - 4pm weekdays.
Kind regards
Guy
Arthritis Care Helpline
Arthritis Care
http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/Ch ... s_care.php
http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/Ch ... s_care.php