Course à pied en toute mobilité
How to relieve osteoarthritis of the foot in athletes
Chronic pain affects many adults and among the most common ailments is arthrosis. This common form of joint damage is a chronic, degenerative condition that affects cartilage. Although its progression is slow in most cases, it can considerably degrade one’s quality of life. This pathology, also known as osteoarthritis, hinders athletes, among others, and can make certain physical activities much more laborious, even discouraging.
There’s good news on the horizon though: viscosupplementation could bring you some relief. By introducing a natural lubricant into the joint, this proven technique helps the body’s biological process, giving it a little more than it should produce on its own. In fact, the injection of hyaluronic acid inside a joint affected by osteoarthritis works with you to restore the mobility you need to practice your favourite sport.
How does osteoarthritis affect the joints?
Let’s imagine a normal knee joint: the femur and the tibia are both covered with cartilage and between them there is a protective fluid. When osteoarthritis occurs, the quality and quantity of this synovial fluid decreases. This viscous fluid, which serves mainly as a lubricant to protect the joint surfaces from friction and impact, disappears and triggers the degeneration of the cartilage. As the cartilage rubs against its counterpart when the joint is stressed, it softens, crumbles and cracks, sometimes creating small bony growths that will eventually impair the mobility of the joints and the surrounding tendons.
The most common symptoms are pain and stiffness, primarily flaring up in a more intense way when waking up or resting after a physical effort involving the part of the body affected by osteoarthritis. In order to conclude that this pathology exists, a doctor will examine your joints and your range of motion and then confirm the suspicion via medical imaging or a simple X-ray. The causes of the disease are still, to this day, partly unknown and raise differences of opinion among scientific researchers. Some claim that the rapid and repetitive movements caused by certain sports lead to mechanical stress and traumatize the joints.
Paradoxically, others tend to show that the percentage of people affected by osteoarthritis is also high in the non-sporting community and that exercise is part of the solution.
A natural treatment to consider
One treatment that has proven effective for mild to moderate osteoarthritis is the injection of hyaluronic acid into the affected joint. The procedure takes only a few minutes, causes little or no discomfort and its beneficial action can last up to six months. This method tends to restore the cushioning properties of the cartilage and the surrounding joint fluid. To sum up in simple terms, it nourishes the cartilage and creates space between the bones, thereby reducing pain and increasing flexibility.
This non-surgical alternative is very useful, especially if you’ve already tried corticosteroid injections without success, have ingested too many painkillers or want to delay surgery. If you have foot arthrosis, discuss this option with your podiatrist. It may help you stay active and delay the degeneration of your joints. As the saying goes, “Use it or lose it”.