Do you have pain, tenderness, swelling or stiffness in your hands, wrists or feet that has lasted for six weeks or longer? In the morning, are your joints stiff for longer than 30 minutes? Is one or both of your knees tender, warm and swollen? You may have more than arthritis — you may have rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic and often very painful autoimmune disease.
Do you have stiffness, tenderness or swelling in one or more of your joints? Do you hear a grinding noise when a joint is being used? Have you lost range of motion in any of your joints? You may have osteoarthritis.
Approximately 1.5 million people in the United States have rheumatoid arthritis (RA), including several patients whom I see regularly in my practice. Somewhat different from “regular” arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system, which normally attacks foreign agents like bacteria and viruses, mistakenly attacks the joints. This creates chronic inflammation that causes the tissue that lines the inside of joints to thicken, resulting in noticeable swelling and sometimes excruciating pain in and around the joints.
I realize that people love flashy, high-fashion shoes but as a podiatrist with Westchester Health, I see firsthand the damage they can cause to feet and ankles. As well as exacerbating toe deformities, calluses, corns, bone spurs and other problems, wearing the wrong or too-high shoes puts tendons, joints and entire muscle groups at risk of serious injury.
In my Westchester Health podiatry practice, my goal is to help you achieve freedom of movement without pain. Foot and ankle pain can be especially difficult to deal with, especially since as upright humans, we spend a good majority of our lives on our feet. In fact, most people put 75,000 miles on their feet by the time they reach age 50.
Did you know that most people log 75,000 miles on their feet by the time they are 50? For some people, all of this wear and tear can cause severe pain in the foot and ankle, requiring surgery. So how can you tell if you would benefit from surgery? John Viscovich, DPM, MBA, FACFAS, a board certified podiatrist with Westchester Health, offers this information.
There are many types of arthritis, the most common being osteoarthritis which happens as the joints simply wear out over time. The good news is that there are a number of effective treatments—particularly for arthritis of the thumb—that can ease the pain and restore comfortable movement of the joint. Jeffrey M. Jacobson, MD, a Hand, Wrist and Peripheral Nerve Surgery specialist with Westchester Health Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, explains these in his recent blog.
The term “arthritis” is used to describe 200 rheumatic diseases and conditions that affect joints, the tissues that surround joints, and other connective tissue. Arthritis can be extremely painful but there are a number of effective treatments that can ease the pain and allow arthritis sufferers to remain active and enjoy freedom of movement.
Many different conditions can lead to painful joints, including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, bursitis, gout, strains, sprains and other injuries. If you suffer from any of these, you’ll find important information in a recent blog by Rick Weinstein, MD, MBA, an orthopedic sports medicine specialist and general orthopedic surgeon with Westchester Health Orthopedics and Sports Medicine and Director of Orthopedic Surgery at Westchester Health Associates.