Big toe arthritis or hallux rigidus, as doctors like to call it, is when a patient loses the cartilage on both sides of their joint that's at the base of their big toe. That can lead to pain, swelling, loss of function, inability to perform activities like running, jumping, things like that. It also causes difficulty with shoewear, especially in females who want to wear a higher heel shoe. This can lead to debilitation from the pain and swelling Common symptoms of big toe arthritis are pain and swelling. The first thing the patient usually notices is that it hurts when they roll over onto their big toe, as the toe flexes upward. That's where patients tend to get the first part of the arthritis, is at the top of the joint. When they lean into the joint, that's when they seem to notice the symptoms the worst. The pain might be associated with swelling right away. It's usually not associated with redness, like you'd see with gout and those other conditions, but the pain and swelling are usually fairly significant.
