Ankle Osteoarthritis: Our Comprehensive Approach Can Help You Avoid Surgery 

It’s no secret that surgery can provide life-changing results. But that doesn’t mean it’s the only option, especially for conditions like osteoarthritis.

Our team at Premier Foot and Ankle Center specializes in surgical treatments, but we prefer a comprehensive approach that starts with conservative therapies when treating our patients.

And the best part? These methods can often help people delay or even avoid surgery entirely.

This May, we share our comprehensive approach to managing ankle osteoarthritis in honor of Arthritis Awareness Month.

Osteoarthritis and the ankle

Developing arthritis anywhere in your body poses challenges, yet it’s especially difficult when it involves your ankle.

When you have osteoarthritis, the spongy tissue protecting the bones that meet in your ankle wears away. Without this protective padding, the bones rub together, triggering a variety of uncomfortable symptoms.

Common signs of ankle osteoarthritis include:

• Pain and stiffness, especially in the morning or after inactivity
• Pain during motion or activity
• Swelling, warmth, redness, and tenderness at the joint
• Reduced range of motion
• Problems walking or moving

This issue affects approximately 1% of individuals, often because of a previous trauma.

Comprehensive management strategies for ankle osteoarthritis

People of any age can develop osteoarthritis in the ankle. 

It becomes increasingly common with age as cartilage naturally deteriorates, especially in joints that get a lot of use. In fact, an estimated 18% of those over 65 have degenerative changes in the ankle joint.

That’s why a comprehensive strategy can play a crucial role in easing ankle osteoarthritis symptoms. And we can provide even more effective results when we start in the earliest stages of the condition — before more severe deterioration can set in.

We usually recommend a combination of strategies designed to ease pressure on the joint and promote overall health and wellness. They often fall into three different categories.

Lifestyle changes

You may not associate lifestyle with ankle osteoarthritis. But proper nutrition, regular exercise, and healthy weight management are the first lines of defense for keeping joints in peak condition, especially weight-bearing joints, like your ankles. 

Medications

In addition to lifestyle changes, it’s key to get pain and inflammation under control. We often use various methods to accomplish this, from oral medications and topical creams to targeted injections.

Supportive therapies

Finally, we could recommend several therapeutic interventions, such as: 

• Splints or custom orthotics
• Supportive devices, like canes
• Physical or occupational therapy

There are also special range-of-motion exercises that can improve symptoms when you perform them on a daily basis, like ankle circles.

We may not have a cure for osteoarthritis at this point, but our comprehensive approach can improve your symptoms and help you resume everyday activities. 

And if they don’t, we do perform minimally invasive foot and ankle surgery at our state-of-the-art podiatry practice.

Do you have ankle osteoarthritis? Take action for Arthritis Awareness Month and schedule a consultation with our experts at Premier Foot and Ankle Center today. We have offices in Worcester and Webster, Massachusetts.