If you have pain on the side of your foot, in what we call the bunion area. The first thing we’ll want to do is get an x-ray. The x-ray will give us a lot of information like seeing a fracture, or we’ll see a build up of excess bone which creates a limitation of motion. We may also see holes literally in the bone caused from long-term gout. After the x-rays are taken a decision is made if we must do blood work. If there’s a degenerative problem where you have a bit of bone build up we may consider a surgical procedure or even a conservative procedure like changing your footwear at our shoe-store, cortisone injections. Surgery is always our last option.
For gout there are both long-term and short-term medications that can bring the swelling down. Sometimes we’ll inject the patient and give them a medication to take at home. Lastly, if the pain is not associated with gout, we’ll most likely apply an application to relieve pressure off the big toe joint. There are a slew of reasons for big to pain and if you have them, don’t wait. I would recommend you call a podiatrist. We have offices in North Andover, Lowell, and Haverhill. Call us at 978-794-8406. We’re here to help.