pain in hip-swelled foot-falling | Arthritis Information

 

My left foot swells up huge & is hot, I am on Enbrel 50mg. 1 time a wk.  now my leg is giving out on me & I am falling, I fell in the RV. door today & have a big ole scrap on my elbow, I have been putting ice on my foot, I TRYING to keep it up,,,,is this falling part of this RA?  I also have Fibro.

Hi Rivergal

People with arthritis do fall easily - it used to happen to me a lot. Mainly it's due to us losing muscle tone in our legs, as it is hard to stay active with arthritis. The lack of supporting muscles then causes us to lose our balance more easily than usual.

Two great ways to rebuild muscle tone (and not fall over so easily) are swimming (or other water activities like aerobics or aquajogging) or using an exercise bike. It's worked for me!

All the best, 

RG, quite a few people on this site have fallen for a variety of reasons. Knees and hips give out, and feet won't support us. A lot of people use canes for support. Falling is not unusual.

I've not had the knee or hip problems (yet), but my foot has been swollen and hot, as yours is. My ankles were swollen and in agony. I had my ankles injected with cortisone, and it helped tremendously. They have never swelled that much since. I don't know anything about fibro, its treatment or symptoms, though.

Good luck!

Yes, it is a common problem for the reasons stated above. For relief in your left foot, you should ask for a cortisone shot. Since you are also falling, I would mention that as well. They may want to investigate it further with xrays, etc and muscle or nerve tests.

But the one thing you shouldn't have to live with is this extremely swollen left foot. When one joint swells more than the others, it must be examined carefully. Underlying damage may be occurring and you want to catch that earlier rather than later.

Building your muscles up is helpful. PT might help you regain your balance. You might also consider adding support bars, etc. to make sure you don't fall.

With your falling, a problem could also be happening in your knee or hip that you are not aware of. A good examination and treatment for the swelling are both in order.

I fell the other night and I have a prize-winning bruise on my boob. The bruise is almost black and about the size of my hand. It grossed out the nurse at the doctor's office so much that I had to take a picture of it and send it to my sister. I might have to start a little website business on the side. : )

Bruised boob? I wonder how much action you can get on something like that?

Ouch!

My rummy doc. is working me in thurs. morning, it is a 2hr. drive, that will be stuff, but can't stand this pain, it is all over now, & my nerves are shot....Glad your getting in to the rd. That's the best thing for
you at this point, and I hope you will find some relief
and more info about what is really going on.

-tara
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