If the big toe joint on your foot hurts, then you need to find the cause of the discomfort. This is often how inflammatory or degenerative pathology manifests itself. With timely diagnosis and proper conservative treatment, it is possible to stop it at the initial stage of development. But constant use of analgesics and lack of medical intervention often leads to rapid progression of the disease.
Why might your thumb joint hurt?
Pain in the joint of the big toe often occurs when breaking in new shoes and is usually caused by the formation of a callus or rubbing. In such cases, it quickly weakens immediately after the skin heals.
The development of pathology is indicated by the appearance of pain more than once a week, and a gradual increase in its intensity. Indirect signs of an inflammatory or destructive process include swelling and redness of the skin over the joint and its stiffness.
Arthritis
When a patient complains of pain in the joint of the big toe, the doctor first of all assumes the development of rheumatoid arthritis. This is a serious pathology that cannot yet be completely cured. But long-term use of drugs allows one to achieve stable remission and slow down the inflammatory process.
Also, the cause of pain can be infectious arthritis, which occurs due to the penetration of pathogenic bacteria into the joint cavity. Antibiotic therapy helps eliminate all symptoms of the pathology.
Less commonly, the appearance of discomfort is provoked by reactive arthritis, which develops due to an inadequate response of the immune system to the introduction of infectious or allergic agents. The disease can be completely cured in 60% of cases.
Arthrosis
Pain in the toe occurs with arthrosis of the 2nd degree of severity. And at the initial stage of development, only mild discomfort occasionally appears after a long walk, lifting weights, or intense sports training. It is in the absence of symptoms that the difficulties of treating this degenerative-dystrophic pathology lie. The patient consults a doctor if irreversible changes in cartilage and bone tissue have already occurred.
Gout
Pain of similar localization in men is a specific sign of damage to the toe by gouty arthritis. This joint is also involved in the inflammatory process in women, but usually a little later, after damage to the small joints of the hands. Gout develops due to dysregulation of purine synthesis in the body. The level of uric acid and its salts increases, and then they crystallize, accumulate and deposit in the joints, irritating the tissues, provoking the development of inflammation. Indirect confirmation of a gout attack is redness of the finger and a strong increase in local temperature.
Bursitis
This is an acute, subacute or chronic inflammation of the synovial bursa, accompanied by the accumulation of exudate in its cavity. Bursitis can be infectious, developing after pathogenic microorganisms enter the joint, for example, due to injuries.
Its cause can be respiratory, urogenital, intestinal infections. After visiting a doctor, patients for treatment of bursitis are prescribed antibiotics to destroy pathogenic bacteria and eliminate symptoms.
Bursitis is often a complication of systemic diseases - arthritis, arthrosis, gout.
Tendon inflammation
Tendonitis is an inflammatory pathology that affects the tendons. It develops as a result of a single or regular increased load on the joint of the big toe. If a person does not seek medical help, tendonitis becomes chronic. Pain in the finger appears when the weather changes, hypothermia, or ARVI. Gradually, the structure of the tendon changes pathologically, which leads to gait disturbance.
With tendovaginitis, connective tissue cords also become inflamed, but only those that have vaginas. The causes of the development of this disease can be either monotonous, frequently repeated movements, or rheumatic or infectious processes.
Morton's neuroma
This is the name for damage to the plantar digital nerve at the level of the heads of the metatarsal bones as a result of compression by the transverse intermetatarsal ligament.
Morton's neuroma appears due to wearing tight high-heeled shoes, improper gait, excess weight, and long walking. Athletes and people who work in a standing position are at risk.
A characteristic symptom of Morton's neuroma is the sensation of a foreign object in the shoe. Over time, the pain in the toe may subside, but when wearing tight shoes, another exacerbation occurs.
Diabetes
“Doctors are hiding the truth!”
Even “advanced” joint problems can be cured at home! Just remember to apply this once a day...
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This is a chronic metabolic disorder, which is characterized by insufficient production of its own insulin and increased blood glucose levels. The course of diabetes mellitus is complicated by impaired functioning of almost all vital systems, including the musculoskeletal system. Diabetic foot becomes a serious consequence of the pathology.
A patient with a similar condition exhibits circulatory problems in the lower leg, pain in muscles and joints, and destruction of bone and cartilage tissue.
Ingrown nail
The nail becomes ingrown due to too much pressure on the surrounding soft tissue. Most often, this pathology affects the big toe.
As a result of ingrowth of the nail plate into the periungual fold, an acute inflammatory process develops. Severe pain occurs, spreading to the entire finger. Usually making a diagnosis is not difficult. Upon external examination, redness of the skin and inflammatory swelling are clearly visible. Ingrown toenails are treated conservatively, but surgical intervention is often required - partial or complete removal of the nail plate.
How to help a doctor identify a disease
Pain in the thumb is a symptom of many diseases. But depending on the specific disease, the condition of the leg will be different.
To more accurately describe your symptoms to your doctor, pay attention to the following properties of pain:
- pain during exercise or during rest;
- does it become easier if you take off your shoes;
- how long have you been sick?
- what is the nature of the pain - sharp, stabbing, or dull, aching;
- pain appears only on one leg or on both;
- are there similar sensations in the hands when loaded;
- the big toe just hurts or is additionally swollen;
- how the fingers adjacent to the patient feel;
- is there any pregnancy;
- Are you seeing an endocrinologist?
All these factors will help the doctor quickly and accurately establish a diagnosis and begin the correct treatment.
Nature of pain
Jerking, throbbing pain in the finger indicates an acute course of the inflammatory process. Associated symptoms are almost always redness, smoothing, and swelling of the skin. The small blood vessels become congested with blood, causing the big toe to feel hot to the touch. All these signs are characteristic of the following pathologies:
- gout;
- infectious, rheumatoid, reactive arthritis;
- tendinitis, tendovaginitis.
A sharp piercing pain occurs when a joint is injured - a fracture, dislocation, bruise after a fall or a directed blow. Mild discomfort in the big toe is one of the symptoms of developing arthrosis, deforming osteoarthritis or osteoporosis. Their severity increases gradually and after several months or years the pain in the joint becomes constant.
Why does the big toe on the left or right foot hurt?
There are more situations that lead to such pain than in the case of the hands.
For example, prolonged exposure to tight, uncomfortable, or simply unsuitable shoes can injure the foot and lead to unpleasant consequences. Among the most common causes of pain at rest and when walking in the big toe are:
- injuries - bruises, fractures;
- calluses and corns;
- papillomas;
- arthrosis and arthritis of various origins;
- systemic autoimmune diseases affecting the joints (rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus) - with these diseases the pain is usually symmetrical;
- gout is a metabolic disease in which uric acid crystals are deposited in the joints;
- transverse (less often longitudinal) flatfoot;
- diabetes;
- valgus deformity of the first toe (colloquially “bunion”) is a disease in which the location and angle of inclination of the big toe changes, the joint becomes deformed, grows and hurts;
- ingrown nail.
There are, therefore, a lot of answers to the question of why the big toe hurts on the right or left foot. The doctor’s task is to find and eliminate the specific cause.
Diagnosis of the disease
The diagnosis is made based on the patient’s complaints, anamnestic data, the results of an external examination and instrumental studies. The most informative is radiography. The resulting images clearly visualize changes in the structure of bone and cartilaginous tissues, characteristic of gout, deforming arthrosis, and some types of arthritis.
X-ray of the foot.
Using MRI and CT, you can assess the condition of connective tissue structures, blood vessels, and nerves. If an infectious process is suspected, biochemical studies are carried out to determine the species of pathogenic microorganisms.
Treatment methods
When determining therapeutic tactics, the doctor takes into account the type of pathology, the severity of its course, the number of complications that have arisen, and the degree of tissue damage. Arthritis, arthrosis, and tendonitis respond well to conservative therapy, but only if they are diagnosed in the initial stages of development.
Drug therapy
To eliminate pain that occurs during relapses of pathologies, glucocorticosteroids can be used in combination with anesthetics and muscle relaxants. But the drugs of first choice in the treatment of all diseases of the musculoskeletal system are always non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
| A dosage form of NSAID used for pain in the toe joint. | Name of systemic and local drugs |
| Ointments, gels, creams, balms | Voltaren, Dolgin, Fastum, Ketoprofen, Artrosilene, Indomethacin, Bystrumgel |
| Tablets, capsules, dragees, powders for dilution in water | Ketorol, Nise, Nimesil, Nimesulide, Nurofen, Ibuprofen, Etoricoxib, Celecoxib |
| Solutions for parenteral administration | Meloxicam, Movalis, Lornoxicam, Ketorolac, Ortofen, Diclofenac, Voltaren |
Surgery
Indications for surgical intervention are pain in the joint that cannot be eliminated with medication, complications that have developed, and severe deformation of the joint. The method of performing the operation is chosen by the attending physician. In severe cases, the entire joint is removed, followed by arthrodesis or installation of an endoprosthesis. In other cases, bone or cartilage defects are excised, and ligament or tendon plastic surgery is performed.
Traditional methods
Eliminating pain in the big toe with folk remedies is not only impractical, but also dangerous. If they are triggered by inflammation, then the use of alcohol tinctures or ointments with a warming effect will lead to the rapid spread of pathology to healthy tissues and joints.
Folk remedies are ineffective in the treatment of arthrosis, gout, and infectious diseases. They can be used only after the main treatment with the permission of a doctor.
Massotherapy
Classic, acupressure, vacuum massage is an effective way to treat all joint diseases. But therapeutic procedures are carried out only after restoration of injured joint structures, relief of acute inflammation and severe pain. During the rehabilitation stage, patients are shown massage to improve blood circulation and accelerate tissue regeneration.