I was just on a call with a runner who has had this condition called “hallux rigidus.” and it’s where your big toe joint starts to get stiff, becomes rigid, and it doesn’t move as much.
Hallux rigidus is a progressive condition, especially if you continue to irritate the joint. You can damage the joint cartilage. The stiffer the big toe joint gets, the more pressure on the cartilage when the big toe is trying to fight that stiffness. Sometimes that movement hurts.
He was asking me about the options on different injections.
What are the risks between an injection like a PRP or platelet rich plasma injection versus something like a cortisone injection when you have hallux rigidus?
Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
View Details »If you have a condition called “hallux rigidus” or “hallux limitus,” the name tells you what’s wrong.
“Hallux” means big toe.
“Rigidus” means the big toe joint doesn’t move at all.
“Limitus” just means the big toe joint movement is limited and stiff.
There are three problems with hallux rigidus, which are: 1) damage to the cartilage, 2) bone spurs around the joint and 3) restriction of the soft tissues such that the toe doesn’t move up and down the way it should.
Those three reasons that cause the condition are the same reasons that can fail if you have a cheilectomy surgery.
Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we’re talking about three reasons for cheilectomy failure after hallux rigidus surgery.
View Details »A bunion deformity is a really common problem, and a bunion is when your big toe moves over and starts pushing against the second toe. Over time that can get bad enough that the big toe actually sits on top or underneath the second toe.
Now because this thing is so common, whenever you get a bump of any kind around that area, people often think that they have bunions, and that’s exactly what happened with this runner when I did his second opinion consultation.
Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we’re talking about a runner who said that he thought he had a bunion, but his big toe was straight.
A question came up during a recent telemedicine visit I was doing with a runner who has hallux rigidus. He wanted to know whether or not it was a good idea or a bad idea to inject the big toe joint with cortisone to treat his hallux rigidus.
Everything in medicine, the doctor is basically looking at your circumstances, trying to figure out what you really want short-term and long-term, and then figuring out whether or not that treatment is actually appropriate and really best for you given your circumstances, given your condition, and your goals.
There is nothing that is risk-free in medicine. So when you have a cortisone injection in the big toe joint for hallux rigidus, what’s happening is you’re doing the corticosteroid injection to reduce the inflammation. It’s very effective at that. Corticosteroids, however, are also very effective at breaking up collagen bonds.
Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we’re talking about whether or not cortisone injections are good or bad for hallux rigidus.
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