Rheumatoid Arthritis & Feet

Rheumatoid Arthritis is an autoimmune disease involving your body€™s inflammatory response that affects not only bone but also tissue, throughout the body.
Patients will experience periods of ‘remission€™ and ‘exacerbation’ (or flare ups). The entire body can be affected during these flare ups and patients can describe flu-like symptoms.
What sorts of feet issues can Rheumatoid Arthritis lead to?
Progressively R.A. can cause:
* Soft tissue swelling
* Vasculitis(inflammation of blood vessels)
* Thinning of the skin
* Increased risk of infection due to immune altering prescribed medication
* Reduction in joint motion
* Joint deformity
* Functional decline
* Painful altered gait (walking) cycle €“ often shuffling.
€˜Flare ups€™ – or periods of inflammation (redness, heat, swelling and pain) are the most common difficulties that those with R.A will experience in the legs and feet.

RA, Feet and How a Podiatrist Can Help
The R.A foot is classed as high risk, and therefore it is important that special attention is paid to your feet if you have RA, and that you see a Podiatrist regularly.
Almost 90% of those with R.A. report associated foot problems. For many the first signs and symptoms of R.A. will occur in the foot before anywhere else in the body. The systemic nature of R.A and the effect of some prescribed medication will increase the vulnerability of the skin leaving the feet at risk of tissue breakdown and subsequent infection.
Chronic systemic inflammation will cause progressive damage to joint structures, eroding cartilage and then bone, leading to reduced range of motion and joint deformity €“ typically within the toes. Altered foot shape (a result of joint degeneration) produce areas of abnormal high pressure. Thinning of the skin means that areas subjected to abnormal pressure load are likely to break down. Wound healing can be delayed in R.A, thus ulceration and infection will often develop from tissue breakdown.
When managed appropriately by a qualified Podiatrist, abnormal foot function, tissue breakdown and ulceration can be avoided.
Podiatry treatment of the Rheumatoid foot aims to reduce foot related pain, maintain/improve foot function and so mobility, whilst protecting skin and other tissues from damage, breakdown, ulceration and subsequent infection. Corrective orthotics prescribed by your podiatrist will correct foot function €“ preventing destructive abnormal loading through joints and thus preserving the integrity of the foot.
If you have rheumatoid arthritis, contact the experts at Dubai Podiatry Centre for a friendly and thorough foot and leg check up and advice €“ 04 3435390.