Joint Disorders—Foot Injuries and Disorders

Each of your feet has 26 bones, 33 joints, and more than 100 tendons, muscles, and ligaments. No wonder a lot of things can go wrong. Here are a few common problems:

• Bunions – hard, painful bumps on the big toe joint
• Corns and calluses – thickened skin from friction or pressure
• Plantar warts – warts on the soles of your feet
• Fallen arches – also called flat feet

Ill-fitting shoes often cause these problems. Aging and being overweight also increase your chances of having foot problems.

• Claw foot (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Clubfoot (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Common peroneal nerve dysfunction (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Extremity x-ray (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Flat feet (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Foot pain (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Foot sprain – aftercare (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Foot, leg, and ankle swelling (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Hand or foot spasms (Medical Encyclopedia)
• High arch (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Metatarsal fracture (acute) – aftercare (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Metatarsal stress fractures – aftercare (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Metatarsus adductus (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Morton neuroma (Medical Encyclopedia)

A joint is where two or more bones come together, like the knee, hip, elbow, or shoulder. Joints can be damaged by many types of injuries or diseases, including

• Arthritis – inflammation of a joint. It causes pain, stiffness, and swelling. Over time, the joint can become severely damaged.
• Bursitis – inflammation of a fluid-filled sac that cushions the joint
• Dislocations – injuries that force the ends of the bones out of position

Treatment of joint problems depends on the cause. If you have a sports injury, treatment often begins with the RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation) method to relieve pain, reduce swelling, and speed healing. Other possible treatments include pain relievers, keeping the injured area from moving, rehabilitation, and sometimes surgery. For arthritis, injuries, or other diseases, you may need joint replacement surgery to remove the damaged joint and put in a new one.

NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

• Hypermobile joints (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Joint pain (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Joint swelling (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Joint x-ray (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Limited range of motion (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Steroid injections – tendon, bursa, joint (Medical Encyclopedia)