# Has anyone had surgery for arthritis in their foot?



## ColinC (Oct 19, 2007)

After steadily increasing amount of pain in the joint at the base of my big toe I have just seen an orthopaedic surgeon. It appears that the joint is basically nackered due to arthritis. I am being offered an op to fuse the joint; which means no more movement in the joint but hopefully reduced pain.

Problem is I use my feet an awful lot. All my holidays are spent hill-walking, and I also spend quite a few weeks each year leading groups on walking holidays. So obviously I am very worried as to the effect on my mobility of a fusion op.

I have been doing a trawl on the web to find out about artificial joints. Unfortunately these do not seem to be trouble free and the advice seems to be that they are not advisable for very active people.

So, is there anyone out there who has had either of these procedures? and if so what were the results?

Colin


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Not an op but a relative of ours has injections of corticosteroids into arthritic finger and wrist joints and these seem to do the trick in reducing pain and increasing mobility for 5 or 6 months on end.

I understand that there is a limit to how many years the treatment can be carried out on a regular basis before it becomes ineffective and she is almost at that point. It has however bought her many years of relief.

It might be worth asking if it could be useful in your case.

G


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## Dukeham (Feb 3, 2009)

Hi.
Yes I had an opp for arthritis on my left big tow. It was pinned/fused but at the same time i also had a toe that had crossed over straightened. I also had DVT in my left leg as the result of a motorbike accident.
I have had pain problems since & put it down to the result of the accident.
After seeing a specialist he said it was a result of the pining/fusing of the toe. He then suggested putting a rocker on the sole of an old trainer to see if that helped.
The pain used to get worse at the end of the day after being on my feet all day. By then i was limping. I could not believe the difference the rocker made. It makes my day a lot more comfortable.
Hope this may be of some help.
GC.


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