Discomfort in the big toe or hallux joint in the foot is commonly because of arthritis. This usually is recognized as hallux rigidus. There are lots of disorders of the great toe or hallux joint which would hurt, with gout symptoms being one more well-known one. At times the hallux joint is completely rigid and other times it's not necessarily rigid, it simply has a decreased capability to move that is less than the normal. The most frequent cause of a hallux rigidus is osteoarthritis within the joint. This osteoarthritis does come from a lot of wear and tear on the hallux joint from a alignment problem with how the big toe joint is not going to function the actual way it really should. Another cause of the osteo arthritis may be a one off (or maybe a handful of) trauma to the big toe joint that does certain injury to the joint and bring about the arthritis to start. Usually, the symptoms from hallux rigidus begins as a modest ache, sometimes with an periodic sharp pain. With time, the hallux rigidus little by little gets worse and can turn out to be quite painful. It will likewise impact the way that you walk.
The therapies for hallux rigidus usually are to some degree limited because there is no cure for osteo arthritis. The first approach is therapy for the pain which may possibly involve injection therapy into the big toe joint as well as the taking of pain drugs. This is often going to almost certainly work efficiently in the short term however it is not likely to heal the issue. Footwear that happen to be a lot more stiff or have a rocker under them are effective at limiting the movements in this big toe joint, but still provide for close to normal walking. You can also get a graphite plate that may be placed in the shoes to ensure they are rigid to make sure that any time walking that great toe or hallux joint will not move. Foot orthotics are also sometimes used and can often have a rocker or another design feature which ends underneath the big toe or hallux joint also to help minimize movement in the joint. In addition there are other kinds of padding which you can use as well as strapping on the big toe or hallux joint that might also be employed to restrict movements with the joint.
Surgery is another option that should be considered for hallux rigidus. There are lots of distinct approaches that the surgeon might take. One of these is to just fuse the joint. This may definitely prevent the pain and often will affect the way you walk about to some extent. It is still an excellent choice. A different operative technique is to remove a bit of bone from across the joint to allow it to move a bit more readily. Another surgical option is to upgrade the hallux joint using an artificial joint or place a spacer in the hallux joint so the arthritis on the joint surfaces is taken away and the two joints areas go forward on that spacer. The option of which of these solutions is something that the surgeon will have to make a decision depending upon how much destruction was done to the big toe joint and how workable the bone around the hallux joint is and just how deep the osteoarthritis should go.
