Home Remedies for Decreasing Foot Arthritis Pain and Ankle Arthritis Pain
We feel strongly that foot arthritis should be treated by a qualified podiatrist. Not only are you likely to have better results than you can achieve on your own, but you are likely to end up with much better protection for the joints of your feet and ankles.
If you cannot see a podiatrist right away, however, here are some self treatments that you can do on your own to decrease pain of arthritis in the feet.
The first goal of treating of mid-foot arthritis or ankle arthritis is to limit motion in the joints that are damaged. You can accomplish that with the use of proper arch supports and shoes designed with rocker soles to decrease motion. Avoid going barefoot – even around the house.
Follow this 8-Step Plan for 3 weeks. Most people will see relief within the first week or two. If your pain isn’t gone by 3 weeks, see a podiatrist.
Use an arch support in your shoes. This will act to decrease painful joint motion by preventing arch collapse. An arch support with a higher arch and some rigidity will work best. These
OTC arch supports will not work as well as a quality
custom orthotic, but will help. The best one that we have found for foot arthritis is the
Powerstep Full Length Arch Support It’s semi-rigid and relatively high arch helps tremendously to limit motion of painful foot joints.
Use rocker soled shoes to limit painful motion of the foot and ankle. By limiting motion they are very effective at reducing foot and ankle arthritis pain. We have reviewed many of the rocker soled shoes and the one we like the best is the
Cogent. Compared to most rocker shoes the
Cogent Rocker Shoe is much more stable. One of the best shoes for people with foot arthritis and ankle arthritis.
If you don’t want to use a rocker soled shoe,
use a stable walking shoe with a firm heel. You can find shoes on our
recommended shoe list. The stability prevents the heel from rolling in (pronating). When that occurs, the arch flattens and the bones on top of the foot are compressed together. One of our favorites is the
Orthofeet Shoes for Women and
Orthofeet Shoes for Men. 
If you have arthritis of the ankle, use an ankle brace. Ankle braces limit motion in painful ankle joints. We recommend the
Ossur
Exoform Ankle Brace for it’s superior control and easy fit in shoes.
Around the house use a slipper with an arch support. We recommend the
Orthaheel Kiwi
During summer, use sandals or flip-flops that have arch support. Instead, we recommend the
Wave Arch Support Flip-flop Sandal – available here. Our patients love this flip flop as it provides the best support of any sandal on the market.
Ice the foot for 10 minutes each evening.
Use a topical pain reliever such as
Orthogel Cold Therapy Relief Gel during the day.Don’t live with painful arthritic feet. For the most effective and long-lasting treatment make an appointment to see us in our Seattle office.
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Douglas Hale, DPM & Lawrence Huppin, DPM
Foot and Ankle Center of Washington, Seattle
The material provided on this web site is for informative purposes only.
If you need specific medical advice, please contact the office for an appointment.
