Ankle arthritis

If you have ankle arthritis, you'll probably experience pain, stiffness, and swelling around the ankle.

The level of pain can vary from person to person and you might notice it more at different times. Early on, you'll tend to notice it only after prolonged or high impact activities. If the condition progresses, you might notice it more often, or after lower level exercise.

In severe cases it could keep you awake at night and interfere with your sleep. Ankle arthritis has been shown to affect quality of life as much as end stage heart failure.

Your consultant will take a full history of your problem, examine you fully, and may also order appropriate investigations such as standing X-rays, MRI or CT scans. You may also have some blood tests to look for causes of inflammation such as rheumatoid arthritis or gout.

Your consultant will always recommend non-surgical options first, such as activity modification, pain killers, weight loss, ankle supports or braces, and physiotherapy. In some cases they may recommend injections into the joint.

If non-operative treatments have not worked, then you surgery may be discussed with you. There are three main surgical options for ankle arthritis:

• ankle arthroscopy, to clean out the joint or remove bone spurs.
• ankle fusion, when the two bone surfaces are joined together to remove the pain.
• ankle replacement, when the worn out surfaces are replaced with artificial ones.