That kind of thing starts to border on being a philosophical question doesn’t it? It’s all about your pain perception, and your doctor’s perception of your description, and your response to your doctor’s reaction …
So is the infection clearing up? Is it healing properly now?
C
Hmm, a bit equivocal at the moment. Back to the doctor tomorrow (even if it looks markedly better - as I’ll only have 2 days of antibiotics left as my gut 
tells me that’s not enough to clear it).
Is the term EFS (Exploding Feet Syndrome real? Sometimes, my feet do feel so hot especially on toes.
And how did you get on with the doc?
Good thanks - it does look slightly better which is a relief, but as it is being very slow I asked about an extra antibiotic to cover the gut-type microbes, and a repeat of the first antibiotic, and he was happy to provide both. My poor gut will be totally antibiotic-bombed by the end of this, but better than sepsis 
I don’t think there is, @Amos. Inflammation doesn’t show on x-rays, which is the most common type of imaging they do on us. A CT scan or an MRI would, but I don’t think you know if there is damage until it happens. I suppose you have to assume that if there’s enough inflammation for long enough, damage is inevitable. And that’s why early and aggressive treatment is so important.
Somewhere I think I read that ideally, people should see a rheumatologist within a few months of a suspicion of PsA, to get the best outcome. Most of us here would laugh at that: for many of us, it took a year or even decades to get to that point. And that’s when the damage happens.
Interesting article that I just came across: Patient perspectives on the pathway to psoriatic arthritis diagnosis: results from a web-based survey of patients in the United States | BMC Rheumatology | Full Text. I will post in our resources category.
Seenie
Does anyone know of a good nail cutter?
Okay keep your man card secure and get a pedicure. It took me a while to find the right place but we can even bring beer. When I say we there is a few red neck types there also…
It is not about a “man card” , I actually went to a podiatrist for nail care, they looked at them, and suggested laser therapy to destroy the nail beds. Simply, asking if anyone knows of a brand of nail cutters that can cut through a superficial layer of actual nail, and a whole bunch of psoriasis.
I have lots of foot issues…tendons and ligaments - not joints. The pain can be excrutiating. Best thing I found to help was to freeze a lemon. Then I rest the ball of my feet on it (with a thin towel between). I have slept many a night with my forzen lemons!
Actually I have this set: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HLJTX9R?pd_rd_i=B08HLJTX9R&pd_rd_w=ZzetP&pf_rd_p=ee186ce0-6bf7-4893-85b9-f3368b019e0f&pd_rd_wg=iKSe0&pf_rd_r=1FSF8WDN0K8C0VJFYQK0&pd_rd_r=48ba1830-76b7-4920-b474-c01ba7d8e9dd But I do just get a peedicure as they file the nails I have had more than one turn to powder trying to clip. I was being funny on the man card… I avoid podiatrists like the plague.
Good idea! That is the first real Lemon Aid I have heard of for a while! I have to ask only because us Canadians like @Seenie recycle our tea bags, do you use the thawed lemons for a sour beverage of the same name?
gigglechucklesnickerbahahaha Amos, it’s true. We Canadians are big recyclers!
Now @Corrie, I wonder what the advantage of a frozen lemon is over a frozen water bottle (aside from the obvious advantage of being able to make lemonade with soul).
That lame joke aside, tendon and ligament pain in the foot is nothing to laugh at: been there, had that and it truly is excruciating. The foot is jam packed with tendons and ligaments. What imaging have you had on your feet? Of course if the problem is inflammation, that’s not going to show up on x-rays (until the inflammation has damaged the joints, anyway). I had MRIs, but I’m wondering whether ultrasound is of any use in your case.
My experience with feet (too much experience, unfortunately) is that docs – including many rheumatologists – are more interested in hands than feet. That’s because it’s the hands that count for the “joint count”. My question is, what happens if someone has little involvement in hands, but their feet joints are on fire?
Maybe TJ knows the answer to that one.
Lemons make more sense than the frozen peas I use… Can’t think of a use for them BUT the lemons… I’m thinking Limoncello. my sister was concieved jin Moose Jaw. The tea bag thing explains a lot. She used to hoard used tea bags and combine them to makae more tea. Being concieved in Canada must have more effect than we have thought…
Canadian roots run deep. Must have something to do with permafrost. Whatever you do with those peas of yours TJ, be careful not to cook them in the same pot with potatoes.
Now if we could ever get lemon aid AND recycled tea bags in the same pot we would have a drink that the Americans have yet to understand! (ever order “ice tea” in the U.S.?) I am absolutely one who has chronic and quite intense foot pain but little to no hand pain. It just moves from one heel to the other and then deep inside between the heel and ball of the foot. At a glance, my feet look normal for 60 year old feet. The base of my left big toe nail now aches quite often and I get a purplish hue in some knuckles. Thankfully my hands are unimpaired at this time.
You know the answer to that one Seenie… Too dang many years on your feet in a classroom. I’ve NEVER met anyone with foot problems that didn’t have Hips, knees or lower back problems. Its prolly the number one reason I avoid podiatrists like the plague. Never met anyone with hand problems that didn’t have neck or shoulder problems. Its also why I avoid surgeons (and that is hard for me to say…)
PsA is a systemic problem. Its everywhere all the time and makes its appearance where ever it finds an opening. Its sorta like driving up your drive way in snow country and you only make it half way and slide to the bottom. Aha its your tires so off to the tire shop you go you come home and with new tires. You make it 3/4 of the way and slide back. Off you go to the tire shop mad as heck the new tires din’t help The sell you studded tires and off you go. This time you make it all the way to the top. Great problem is solved - for now.
A few days later you get a partial thaw and it refeezes You leave the next morning and DOWN the hill you go and everything goes to chit You realize the compacted snow from your going up and down is now solid ice… You cant’ steer, your brakes are locked but you can’t stop, its out of control. And mostly you are mad at the tire shop.
Maybe just maybe it occurs to you just before you come to a stop in the snow berm from the county road plows what you should really have done was plow the snow off your driveway initially and spread a bit of sand later on.
A surgeon is like the Tire shop what he knows he knows well but just like the tire shop he isn’t going to plow your driveway or spread some sand. We want to take care of the immediate problem become satisfied and ignore the big picture. The problem for our driver wasn’t the tires, the problem was the damn snow. The tires were only one part of the problem, but not even close to a solution. Lemons nail clippers etc are like the tires maybe an immediate temporary solution but unless the whole problem is figured out its going to end badly You see when our drive hit that snow Berm tit was covering up a big rock and the poor guy totaled his car…
So we can deal with our feet,hands chest but it really becomes a game of wack a mole… unless of course you start plugging the holes…
I am off single use plastics…PLUS, I get to use the lemon afterwards!
All good! If you need any ideas for using lemons, or man TJ is full of 'em. LOL