Discomfort in the great toe or hallux joint of the foot is frequently due to osteoarthritis. This usually is referred to as hallux rigidus. There are several conditions of the big toe or hallux joint that would cause pain, with gout being another well-known one. In some cases the joint is totally stiff as well as other times it's not necessarily rigid, it just has a lower range of flexion that is lower than the normal. The most prevalent cause of a hallux rigidus will be osteoarthritis in the great toe joint. The osteoarthritis may come because of a lot of deterioration of in the hallux joint due to a structural issue with just how the great toe joint is not going to function the actual way it should. And the second cause of the osteo arthritis is a one-time (or possibly a few) trauma to the joint that does certain damage to the joint and bring about the osteo arthritis to develop. Generally, the pain sensation from this begins as a modest discomfort, from time to time having an periodic sharp shooting pain. After some time, it progressively becomes worse and might turn out to be quite painful. It will likewise change the manner in which you walk.

The treatment options of hallux rigidus are generally somewhat reduced since there is no cure for arthritis. The initial approach is therapy for the pain sensation and this can call for injection therapy into the joint as well as the taking of pain prescription drugs. This is often going to probably effectively work for the short term but is not going to heal the issue. Footwear that happen to be more inflexible or have a rocker beneath the shoe are effective at restricting the motion in that great toe joint, but still permit close to regular walking. There is also a carbon fibre insole which could be placed in the footwear to ensure they are rigid making sure that while walking the great toe or hallux joint doesn't move much. Foot orthotics can also be commonly utilized and may often have a rocker or another design function which ends underneath the big toe or hallux joint also to help limit movement with the joint. There's also other kinds of padding which you can use and strapping on the big toe or hallux joint that might also be employed to limit movements of the joint.

Surgery is an alternative choice that should be taken into account for hallux rigidus. There are a few distinct techniques that your surgeon might take. One of these is to simply just fuse the hallux joint. This can definitely prevent the pain and often will impact the means you walk around somewhat. It is still an excellent choice. An additional operative approach would be to remove some bone from round the big toe joint to allow the joint to move somewhat more freely. Another surgical approach is to replace the hallux joint using an artificial one or put a spacer in the joint so the osteo-arthritis on the joints areas is removed and the two joints areas move on that spacer. Selecting which of these solutions is a thing that the surgeon will have to determine based on how much destruction happens to be done to the hallux joint and just how viable the bone throughout the hallux joint is and just how deep the osteoarthritis goes.