The term arthritis denotes joint inflammation and soft tissue swelling. Arthritis is a far-reaching description of 100 different diseases and divided into three categories:
Osteoarthritis is known as degenerative arthritis and affects many people when they reach middle age. Symptoms include swelling, limited range of motion, and joint pain.
RA is when a person’s own immune system attacks and destroys cartilage. Symptoms of arthritis may abate for a time, but RA eventually causes joints to deform and shift out of place.
Post-traumatic arthritis develops after an injury to the foot or ankle joint. Pain and inflammation may develop many years after the joint damage.
Dr. Bob Baravaria DPM, FACFAS is a Board-Certified Podiatric Foot and Ankle Specialist. He is an assistant clinical professor at the UCLA School of Medicine and serves as Director of University Foot and Ankle Institute.
Dr. Baravarian has been involved in athletics his entire life and played competitive tennis in high school and college. He has an interest in sports medicine, arthritis therapy, and trauma/reconstructive surgery of the foot and ankle. He is also fluent in five languages (English, French, Spanish, Farsi, and Hebrew),