Halluks Rigidus

What causes restriction of movement in the big toe?

With advanced age or for other reasons, problems such as limitation of movement in the big toe, bone protrusions on the back of the finger joint and inability to wear shoes due to swelling may occur. The condition of reduced movement of the big toe is called Hallux Rigidus. This means stiff finger. The wear of the cartilage tissue in the joint and the resulting formation of bone spurs around the joint restricts the movement of the thumb. This causes pain in the thumb.

What are the causes of cartilage wear in the thumb (hallux rigidus)?

Poor choice of footwear (such as shoes with a narrow front)
Osteoarthritis (common cartilage wear disease, known as arthritis)
Fractures involving the joint
Rheumatic diseases
Gout (soft tissue calcification disease with high uric acid in the blood)

Like cartilage wear in all joints, such as the knee, hip and ankle, wear of the articular cartilage of the thumb is a treatable disease.

How is Hallux Rigidus (thumb arthritis) diagnosed?

People with thumb stiffness (hallux rigidus);

Inability to wear shoes,
Palpable painful bone spur or swelling on the thumb,
radiating pain, sometimes numbness
Inability to walk on the tip of the thumb,
They come to our outpatient clinic with complaints of redness around the big toe.

An experienced orthopedic specialist dealing with foot diseases will recognize your foot at first sight and it will be sufficient to take X-rays in the appropriate position.

How is Hallux Rigidus (thumb stiffness) treated?

Depending on the complaints and cartilage wear, personalized insoles, appropriate shoe selection and, if necessary, physical therapy (exercise) to stretch the muscles around the ankle are the treatment options to be tried first.

In patients with advanced cartilage wear, painful joint movements and bone spurs that make it difficult to wear shoes, surgical removal of the joint may be necessary. Shaving the bony protrusions and loosening the soft tissues gives good results in the majority of patients.

In more advanced cases, surgery can be performed to prevent the bones from rubbing together.

In patients where the articular cartilage is completely worn out, finger movements are very restricted or not at all, or in patients with severe pain, the ideal treatment is joint immobilization (joint freezing) so that the bones do not rub against each other and the finger remains in the proper position. Although joint freezing (arthrodesis) surgery may seem frightening for many patients, with the right patient and surgical technique, it is possible for the pain to disappear permanently and you can walk more comfortably.

Finger prostheses, which are recommended to preserve joint motion, are not preferred due to their failure rates.

With more than 20 years of experience, we serve our patients in our polyclinic.
You can contact us for all your Hallux Rigidus problems. For this, you can contact us at any time through the channels on our web page.you can reach.