Very painful,red, swollen area on my foot...

[Jinglepot]

I have been diagnosed with arthritis in my knees. They were very stiff and painful 2-4 yrs ago,(got treatment and acupuncture which helped) now ,very copable with except for the odd sore twinge and limp til it sorts itself out.
About 6 months ago I woke up with really unbearable pain in my foot which affected toes 2&3, area around swollen and red. I could hardly weightbear. Within 3 days had gone. Now 4 days ago I woke up thinking I'd broken a bone in the top of my foot- same symptoms as before, then after 2 days it has now moved to toes 3& 4 with same swelling , redness, severe pain & hardly able to weightbear. I'm taking heavy duty painkillers and hope it'll do it's thing and disappear as quickly as it came.
Sorry for being so long winded, but is this an arthritis flare-up and is it a usual symptom?
tx for any help.

[shaneystar2]

Sounds like it to me .I've had this sort of thing in every joint I own for the last nearly twelve years little or much .
Have they tested your rheumatoid factor ?
In the feet though it could be gout.

[Jinglepot]

I've looked up gout and it says it usually affects the big toe. I knew someone who had gout and they were in agony for ages. RA is ruled out. I thought gout pain would last for much longer than a few days at a time. fingers crossed it'll go away in the next few days.!!!
Thanks for your imput shaneystar. Appreciated!

[AlBags]

I would have thought it was cellulitis.
If you have occasional athlete's foot .. or other broken skin, you can get it flare up quite easily. I have had it a couple of times .. it feels like a scald .. and is puffy and quite noticeably pink. Ulmost unbearable to touch.

[shaneystar2]

If it's in your knees as well I would think it's arthritic. I get this sort of thing in my hands .The knuckles will swell and go red together with the finger joints then a few days later it goes away again.It travels round my body:). The weather can affect the small joints too.My toes often start nipping when rain is on the way .
The rest of my joints just scream in unison ;))
Hope it soon eases off for you .

[shaneystar2]

Yes ..that's a point too AlBags. Never thought of that and should have considering I have just spent nearly a year going back and forth to the hospital with cellulitis in my leg !

[LoftyLottie]

I get dreadful pains in the top of my feet and sometimes can't put my foot to the ground. They don't get very swollen. However my RA factor goes up and down and I also have Osteoarthritis in my knees and hips. Yesterday was totally unbearable and it's not very good today either. It comes and goes depending on weather, tiredness, general health etc.

Some days I hardly get a pain and it's great and then I go down hill again.

I would say it is an arthritis flare up but do get your RA factor checked as Shaneystar suggests and perhaps anti-inflammatories would help.

At the moment, I can hardly move my back and neck!!

[Jinglepot]

Thank you all so much for your very welcome replies. It makes me feel more relaxed to know that this is normal! Phew!! I had thought about cellulitis but no broken skin or athletes foot (thank goodness). I'll keep taking the tablets-- as they say, and keep rubbing in Piroxicam gel which seems to help(I think).
Knees are ok and only have occasional twinge, it really this painful second foot occasion that had me worried. By the sounds of it I have nothing to complain about!
Thank you all.

[chattykathy]

I think I'm right in saying that you can get gout in any joint. Anti inflammatories would be most helpful

[Jinglepot]

Thanks again everyone all help very much appreciated!!!

[Sqad]

I agree with most of the posters and particularly with chattykatty.
You have a polyarthritis which needs investigation as there are many types, some requiring different methods of treatment. Blood tests and X-Rays will form the basis of these investigations.