Inflammation in the ankle joint

Introduction

Inflammation of the ankle joint is rare, but can basically have few causes. For one thing, it can be an activated arthrosis, especially in older people. In younger people, on the other hand, incorrect and excessive strain can be the cause.

More rarely, rheumatic diseases, autoimmune diseases or infections of the joint are responsible for the complaints. Inflammation of the joint itself manifests itself through swelling and overheating, usually accompanied by pain and restricted mobility. Another disease that occurs frequently, but is not an inflammation of the ankle itself, is tendosynovitis. This leads in particular to pain and restricted movement, but hardly to any real swelling or redness.

Causes of joint inflammation

Inflammation of the ankle joint is, as mentioned at the beginning, not common, but a serious matter. Due to inflammation of the joint, the lack of therapy can result in damage to the joint cartilage with possible permanent damage, pain and restricted mobility. There are five main causes of inflammation in the ankle joint and other rarer causes.

The most common causes include

• Activated arthrosis
• Inflammation due to excessive and incorrect exposure
• Rheumatic diseases
• Autoimmune diseases
• Metabolic diseases

Arthrosis is a so-called degenerative disease, i.e. a disease of wear and tear. Years of movement and strain on a joint can cause the cartilage to be worn away and the bones then no longer have a protective cartilage coating. This leads to painful friction between the two bone surfaces of a joint during movement.

Since each joint is surrounded by a joint capsule containing synovial fluid, there is little exchange between substances inside and outside the joint capsule, so that abraded cartilage accumulates in the synovial fluid and cannot be transported out of the joint. Activated arthrosis is an inflammatory process that occurs when so-called macrophages and leukocytes, the cells of the immune system, invade the joint capsule. These scavenger cells clear the abraded cartilage and other wear products from the joint capsule, as these substances cannot simply escape from the capsule.

This inflammatory process usually lasts several days, is also called “arthrosis attack” and is very painful. Anti-inflammatory drugs such as Diclofenac or Celebrex® should be taken to contain the inflammation and prevent an excessive inflammatory reaction. You can read more information on this topic here: Ankle joint arthrosisMassive (incorrect) stress in the area of the ankle also causes damage to the joint, usually with very small tears, compression and cartilage abrasion.

In the worst case, such stress can lead to swelling, redness and pain in the joint. This is not a classic inflammation, but a very similar mechanism that is supposed to help repair the damaged joint structures. Such a massive misloading is very rare, as tendon sheath inflammation in this area usually occurs beforehand.

This is explained in more detail below. You can find more information here: Cartilage damage in the ankle jointA very rare cause of inflammation in the ankle joint is an infection caused by bacteria. This does not actually occur just like that, but mainly only after operations on the joint, such as arthroscopy.

This is a very rare, but all the more serious complication that requires the fastest possible effective therapy. For more information on this topic : Complications of arthroscopyRheumatic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, can also lead to inflammation of the ankle or tendon inflammation in rheumatism. Although inflammation of the finger joints is much more typical, theoretically any joint can be affected by the inflammation.

Psoriasis (psoriasis) can also lead to joint inflammation (so-called psoriatic arthritis). Especially in children and adolescents, infections of the respiratory tract can lead to inflammation in the ankle joints (so-called reactive arthritis), which is caused by overactivity of the immune system. As a rheumatic cause of inflammation in the ankle joint, diseases from the group of juvenile polyartritides can also be considered in children.These are, so to speak, the rheumatic diseases in children and they all go along with an inflammation of the joints.

More information on this topic can be found here : RheumatismAcute sarcoidosis, also known as Löfgren’s syndrome, is very typical of a painful inflammation in the ankle joints, especially in younger women. In addition to the inflammation of the ankle joints, there are also painful red nodes on the skin of the legs and an enlargement of the lymph nodes in the lungs. Other autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, can also in principle target components of the joints and thus lead to inflammation.

Some metabolic disorders can also lead to inflammation in the ankle joints through crystal deposits. These crystals are formed because certain metabolic products such as uric acid or calcium are present in excessive amounts in the blood and then precipitate. Inflammation in the ankle joints is not typical of any metabolic disorder, but in none of them can it be ruled out.

In gout, for example, the loss of uric acid crystals (so-called urate crystals) can occur in various joints, typically in the big toe base joint. The crystals form when there is a lot of uric acid in the blood over a long period of time. The pain usually develops fairly quickly within a few days and leads to painful swelling and redness of the affected joint.

Also with the so-called pseudo-gout (also called chondrocalcinosis) it can be caused by crystal deposits, here now of calcium phosphate crystals, in the joints. Typically, in addition to the joints, menisci and intervertebral discs are also affected and therefore painful. The cause of this is not yet fully understood, but a connection is seen with other diseases, such as diabetes. You can read more information on this topic here:

• Attack of gout
• Chondrocalcinosis