So my right foot just decided to have a flare up. Laying in bed and felt my toes swell up to the point of barely able to bend my toes, hurts like heck and itch like no other :(
Anything you recommend that helps relieve this?
Hi Tonya, so sorry about you flare up. I haven't had swollen toes but I've awful pain in my feet caused by inflammed tendons before I was diagnosed.
I've posted my remedy many times - sorry if you've already read my comments: I bought a big paint bucket from Home Depot and neoprene toe warmers from Amazon.com. I fill the bucket with water past my ankle and ad ice. I soak my feet for 20 minutes and least 20 minutes rest in between soaking my feet. I also bought a bed pillow wedge that keeps my legs at a 90 degree angle at the knee that keeps my feet raised and helps reduce the swelling - I even slept like that. Both the ice bath and keeping my feet raised helped immensely.
I hope you can find something to give you relief.
warmly,
Frances
Oh my can I handle 20 mins in ice hmmmm guess only one way to find out huh lol.
Frances said:
Hi Tonya, so sorry about you flare up. I haven't had swollen toes but I've awful pain in my feet caused by inflammed tendons before I was diagnosed.
I've posted my remedy many times - sorry if you've already read my comments: I bought a big paint bucket from Home Depot and neoprene toe warmers from Amazon.com. I fill the bucket with water past my ankle and ad ice. I soak my feet for 20 minutes and least 20 minutes rest in between soaking my feet. I also bought a bed pillow wedge that keeps my legs at a 90 degree angle at the knee that keeps my feet raised and helps reduce the swelling - I even slept like that. Both the ice bath and keeping my feet raised helped immensely.I hope you can find something to give you relief.
warmly,
Frances
You can work with the water temp by slowly adding the ice. You really need the toe warmers because your toes will get so cold quickly.
Here's link to the toe covers - this is a link to Amazon ,Toe covers. But you can buy at other online stores and maybe a Sports Store near your house.
This work VERY well for. I don't if it will help you. Before buying anything, you could start by soaking your feet in the tub as long as possible to see if you get any results.
Again, good luck and I wish you fast relief.
Frances
I love my heating pads, but anytime I have a lot of swelling, I have to use ice. I have really nice wraps made by Ace. They are gel filled and really soft, even after you stick them in the freezer. I use them for my swollen spots: feet, knees, hands, etc. I tried ice baths because they work really well for some people. Unfortunately, I’m a wuss. I do not like ice baths, Sam I am! So instead, I use my frozen Ace cold packs. If you’re a wuss, like me, you can get good results from a flexible refreezable ice pack. Just make sure it will stay flexible when frozen so that it will conform to your ouchie spots!
I don't do ice soaks, but will use the type of gel ice pack that GrumpyCat described. I have Raynauds, so that level of ice is very painful.
My rheumy actually uses this to determine treatment. If I am icing my hands and feet regularly, then things are not under good control.
To add in to other suggestions, what about light compression socks, similar to the gloves?
Tonya, often what you are describing sometimes happens to folk sleep or layin on their back with one of their hips higher tha the other and more weight on one side than the other (kind of like a bit of twist) The instant you feel it happening if hop out of bed and stand on your tip toes and then in a leaning position where you can bounce on our the ball of your feet (push up position on a wall our bed) you can often stop it before it progresses.
FWIW, a general gentle stretch before bed really makes things better........
I find elevation of my feet to help A LOT, with just about any problem (swelling, pain, fatigue, etc).
Either heat or ice helps me, depending on what is wrong. It's pretty clear if one is helping or not. If I need ice but use heat, I will get an increase in pain and swelling. If I use ice when I need heat, the pain will intensify quite a bit.
When my feet / toes are bothering me, ice does nothing for me. I soak my feet in hot water, then lay down and elevate them, keeping them nice and warm.
Different things work for different people - you just need to try things until you find something that works for you.