Living with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in the ankle can be challenging, bringing pain and discomfort that disrupt daily activities like walking and standing. You might be seeking answers if you're facing persistent ankle pain, swelling, or stiffness. PsA is an inflammatory condition often linked to psoriasis, affecting about 3 in 10 people with a skin disease. It results from an immune system malfunction that causes inflammation in both skin and joints, including the ankles. Ankle pain and swelling from PsA can make everyday tasks hard, and stiffness, especially in the morning or after inactivity, can be particularly troublesome. Understanding PsA's causes and symptoms is crucial for effective management. Working with your doctor on a treatment plan involving medications, physical therapy, and lifestyle changes can help. Early diagnosis and intervention are vital to maintaining your quality of life.

DOMS stands for delayed onset muscle soreness and describes the soreness and stiffness felt in your muscles after you have done exercise. It is normal and usually occurs when you do an exercise or movement for the first time, after a long break or you work harder than your body is normally used to. DOMS tends to start gradually the next day or so, where you may wake up feeling sore. It usually only occurs the first couple of times you are doing the new exercise but if you keep doing it regularly, over time your body gets used to it and the DOMS is less severe or may not occur at all. The soreness is due to small micro-tears in the muscle which then lead to some inflammation but no need to worry, this is completely normal and your body will actually rebuild the muscle back, usually stronger than it was before.

Disc herniation describes the sudden onset of pain as a result of a problem with an intervertebral disc in the spine. Disc herniation is characterised by the sudden onset of pain that can be severe. Disc herniation can cause pain felt in the back or neck, numbness, tingling or weakness felt in arms or legs, muscle spasm and muscle weakness.

Fibromyalgia is a long-standing condition that causes pain all over the body. It can be a lifelong condition, although there are treatments that help to relieve pain and make living with the symptoms much easier. The name fibromyalgia comes from the words fibrous tissue (fibro), muscles (my) and pain (algia). It’s a syndrome (FMS), which means it can cause a collection of symptoms. Alongside pain, these include tiredness, headaches, bowel symptoms (bloating), constipation, diarrhoea, difficulty concentrating and remembering, sleep disturbance (including restless leg syndrome), muscle stiffness and increased sensitivity to pain. However, fibromyalgia is not a type of arthritis and so joints are not usually affected but many areas of the body can feel tender when pressed. About 1 in 25 people develop fibromyalgia at some time, and it’s much more common in women than in men. It typically begins between the ages of 25 and 55, and has often been present for a long time before it’s diagnosed. Symptoms may wax and wane, so the aims of treatment are to keep most symptoms at bay, and reduce the severity of symptoms if you get a flare-up. Fibromyalgia can also go hand-in-hand with other conditions, including depression and inflammatory bowel syndrome (IBS).

Frozen shoulder is a condition characterised by pain and loss of movement of the shoulder. Otherwise known as adhesive capsulitis, frozen shoulder is a disorder affecting the lining of the shoulder joint which becomes inflamed and tightens.

Arthritis describes inflammation of any joint in the body, causing a destructive process to the joint in the long term. Osteoarthritis occurs when inflammation causes damage and eventual destruction to the cartilage layer, disrupting the normally smooth surface that eases joint movement. This typically happens over a long period of time – usually years or decades in response to wear and tear with use. The hip is a ball-and-socket joint through which significant forces are transmitted when standing, walking, running and jumping. As a weight-bearing joint, it's particularly vulnerable to this progressive damage of the smooth cartilage surface layer. Once this cushion is eroded, the ball part of the hip - the top of the femur (thigh) bone - cannot move smoothly and instead it jars against the socket of the pelvic bones, causing a great deal of pain and loss of function. Age is one of the biggest factors in the development of osteoarthritis, but any injury or over-use from sports or work, or stresses such as obesity, can accelerate the ageing process. Pain and stiffness are the most common feature of hip osteoarthritis. Pain can be felt deep in the outer edge of the hip, in the groin, buttock or knee. Pain is usually worse after prolonged activities such as long walks or exercise and at the end of the day. You may notice a reduced range of motion of your hip joint compared to the previous, and you may develop a limp with severe pain.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis and is sometimes called ‘wear and tear’ arthritis. It is associated with increasing age, though it is a distinct entity from the changes associated with ageing, and affects almost 9 million people in the UK. Osteoarthritis is a disease affecting the cartilage layer that covers the ends of bones at a joint and normally functions to provide a smooth surface that allows friction-free joint movement. Any joint can suffer from osteoarthritis but some of the most common include: hips back knees shoulders fingers It is a degenerative joint disease characterised by the gradual breakdown of cartilage in the joints, leading to pain, stiffness, and impaired mobility. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the causes, symptoms, risk factors, diagnosis, and management of osteoarthritis, as well as the latest advancements in treatment options.

The Achilles tendon is the large tendon just above your heel that you can feel like a cord when you move your foot up and down. It’s the largest and strongest tendon in the body. If the tendon tears, or snaps then this is called an Achilles tendon rupture. A rupture can be partial or total, depending on whether any of the tendon is still attached.

The Achilles tendon is the large tendon just above your heel that you can feel like a cord when you move your foot up and down. It’s the largest and strongest tendon in the body, and it can sometimes become inflamed, causing a painful condition called Achilles tendinopathy. It isn’t clear why this inflammation occurs but one theory is that tiny tears happen in the tendon from overuse, and in trying to repair this pain and swelling develops, especially where the tendon attaches to the heel bone. Early on in the development of Achilles tendinopathy the pain is often worst in the morning and improves through the day but as it progresses it can be there all the time and interfere with activities including walking. Pain may restrict you completely from exercising, but if you do manage to, you may find that pain is worst when you start, but gradually eases as you pursue your workout. Achilles tendinopathy is more common over the age of 30 and in those who suddenly increase their exercise levels. Other contributors include being very overweight (obese) or a lack of strength or flexibility in your leg muscles. Occasionally, the tendon may actually rupture. If you are unsure if you have ruptured your Achilles, have a read through our article.

The term ‘tennis elbow’ is more correctly known as lateral epicondylitis and is a painful condition affecting the outside part of the elbow. The lateral epicondyle is the bony prominence at the outer part of base of the humerus or upper arm bone. A similar condition affects the medial epicondyle (the bony prominence at the inner part of the elbow) and is usually called 'golfer's elbow'. What causes tennis elbow? This is all because of our anatomy. The muscles that straighten out our wrist and fingers anchor onto a small bone at the outer side of the elbow. Repetitive movement under tension of these muscles can irritate the sheath these muscles are contained within and also cause tiny tears of the muscle too. The subsequent irritation and inflammation then causes all the symptoms and these symptoms are probably related to the poor healing process rather than to any original injury. Who gets tennis and golfer's elbow? Any sport, hobby or work activity in which repetitive arm movement, a type of RSI and muscle overstraining are involved can cause it, with the highest risk involving using a bent elbow while holding a racquet or tool. It also affects people more frequently over the age of 35 and both men and women are affected equally. It is uncommon in people under 30, probably because the healing ability of the tissues is better below that age. How do I know I have tennis elbow? It usually starts with discomfort on the outer part of the elbow that gradually increases with movement. Pressing on this part is painful as is bending the wrist upwards against pressure. The wrist may feel weak so picking up everyday objects such as books or pans may become difficult. Eventually, the pain travels all along the upper arm and outer part of the forearm and it may get so painful that the arm is held close to the body to prevent it hurting. There is usually tenderness over the lateral epicondyle in tennis elbow, and over the medial epicondyle in golfer's elbow.

Tendonitis is a common painful condition that can affect tendons around a joint. In most cases, tendonitis is a self-limiting condition and will improve after a period of activity limitation. Tendonitis was previously believed to be a condition of inflammation within a tendon. However, it is now understood that tendonitis does not involve inflammation and instead represents multiple micro-tears accumulating and the tendon generating a healing response. Most cases of tendonitis are caused by a sudden change or increase in your activity levels.

Subacromial impingement (also known as shoulder impingement syndrome) is a condition characterised by painful movement of the shoulder. Pain often occurs when moving the shoulder and arm in specific directions and can be associated with weakness. Subacromial impingement is one of the most common causes of shoulder pain. It most commonly affects people aged 30-70 and around one in five people will experience symptoms of subacromial impingement at some time in their lives. Subacromial impingement tends to cause pain that can be felt at the top of the shoulder and can spread down the arm towards the elbow, pain worse when lifting your arm to side and above your head, weakness when lifting your arm to the side.