Items filtered by date: June 2018

Ankle arthritis is a painful gradual process that can make daily physical activities difficult since the ankle joint provides much of the support and motion stability needed for standing, walking, and running. Arthritis commonly occurs in the ankle joint after a post-traumatic injury, but can it also occur from the gradual wear and tear of the joint or from an inflammatory process such as rheumatoid arthritis. Older patients are often believed to be more prone in developing arthritis, but in a post-traumatic injury such a rotational ankle fracture with cartilaginous damage, it can also commonly occur in younger patients especially from sports.

The symptoms of an arthritic ankle joint are swelling, warmth, and pain during motion and physical activity. There may also be increased pain in the morning or after a period of sitting and resting. Your podiatrist or doctor will ask questions about your ankle pain such as any past history of ankle injuries, will examine your ankle, and will access your gait as well as order x-rays of weight-bearing ankle views. Though there is no definitive cure for ankle arthritis, there are various conservative treatments and lifestyle modifications to manage the arthritis.

The following are non-surgical treatments that your doctor may recommend for an arthritic ankle:

• Lifestyle modifications: Rest and reduce aggravating activities (i.e. running). Staying active with low-impact activities (i.e. swimming). Weight loss may also decrease stress on the ankle joint.
• Physical therapy: Exercises to increase supportive strength and stretch the soft tissues around the ankle joint. Warm or cold compress to relax the stiffness and decrease the swelling of the ankle joint.
• Shoe wear and/or orthopedic devices: Supportive shoes and orthotics to reduce the pressure place on the ankle joint. Taking care to avoid high heels and sandals. Assistive devices such as an ankle brace, cane/walker, or an ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) may also help to stabilize and provide further support the ankle.
• Medications: Pain relievers, NSAIDs, and topical medications such as Voltaren gel, capsaicin cream, and/or Lidocaine patches.
• Injections: Corticosteroid injections to decrease the inflammation or swelling. Hyaluronic acid injections may also be done to provide lubrication for the ankle joint.

If conservative treatments are not providing any pain relief, your doctor may advise the surgical route. Based on the severity of your ankle arthritis, your doctor will decide which surgery is best to treat your arthritic condition. Some surgical options are arthroscopic debridement to clean out the ankle joint, ankle arthrodiastasis to stretch out the ankle joint, ankle arthrodesis (fushion), and total ankle replacement (arthroplasty).Call your podiatrist today to assess an effective treatment for your chronic ankle pain to relieve the painful symptoms and support long-term healthy ankle function!

Please visit our website for more information or call 614-885-3338 (FEET) to schedule an appointment with us at our Columbus or Gahanna office

Having an accessory navicular bone, also known as a Kidner foot, is a type of enlarged or extra bone located on the navicular tuberosity of the inner midfoot. An accessory bone is generally asymptomatic in the beginning but can often cause pain and difficulty fitting into a shoe especially when the bony prominence rubs against the shoe. This is commonly seen in those with a flexible flatfoot and those who are more prone to having trauma to the area of the posterior tibial tendon, which attaches to navicular tuberosity.

Other than a bony prominence to the inside of the midfoot, your doctor or podiatrist will clinically find that the prominence is also tender to touch and that you may have pain with walking or physical activity.  Your doctor will obtain a history of any acute injuries and will conduct a foot-related physical exam as well as order foot x-rays to accurately diagnose an accessory navicular bone. Plain radiographs are necessary to help rule out a navicular fracture and to classify one out the three types of accessory navicular: Type 1 is where the accessory bone is within the posterior tibial tendon, Type 2 is an accessory bone is connected by cartilage to the navicular, and Type 3 is enlarged navicular tuberosity.

Your podiatrist may recommend conservative treatments such as a change in shoe gear, activity modification, and offloading pads to help alleviate the pain. When conservative measures have failed to manage the condition, an outpatient surgery called the Kidner procedure may be done to trim off the extra accessory navicular bone. In addition, it may be necessary to also surgically reattach the posterior tibial tendon to the navicular, which would require a longer recovery process.

Please visit our website for more information or call 614-885-3338 (FEET) to schedule an appointment with us at our Columbus or Gahanna office