ARTHRITIS

There are many different types of arthritis that can effect people, and these can broadly be placed in two categories: "wear and-tear" arthritis effecting joints which sometimes need joint replacements; and inflammatory arthropathies such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and lupus that require a fine balance of medication of activity to control. Besides juggling symptoms, managing medications that might thin your blood (aspirin, warfarin) and increase bleeding, or those that reduce your immunity (chemotherapy, corticosteroids) and can increase your risk to infection, you may have issues reaching or seeing your painful feet. 

Health teams work together to improve your quality of life,  keep you comfortable and make life a little less challenging.We can help you with seemingly simple problems like nail cutting and hard pressure points in a sterile environment to keep you safe - and all 10 toes - and help with orthoses and footwear to offload those inflamed joints. Nothing is too much trouble, if you're finding it all too hard, pop in and see us.

"Wear and Tear" Arthritis

This is also known as osteoarthritis and is the primary case of joint replacements. The joint padding wears out and the joint becomes bone on bone, deformed and very painful. Depending on the joint and the cause, we look to offload the area - reduce the pressure reduces the pain. This can be done by paddings or changing the way your foot moves with an orthotic.

For further reading, see the Arthritis Australia Osteoarthritis Fact Sheet.

Inflammatory Arthritides

This group of arthritis conditions aren't caused by wear and tear, but rather by the immune system attacking the body causing pain, inflammation and joint damage. The reasons for why this happens is unclear and can occur at any age. Management requires medication to reduce the overactivity of the immune system, and specific interventions to keep you pain free. Each condition has it's own unique symptoms and each person will have their own unique response.

For further reading, see the Arthritis Australia Fact Sheets: