Will arthritis in your foot prevent you from running again?

Depends entirely on how you define run.

Like running at a competitive level

Oh yeah that ship has sailed.

Depends, do you also have Chinese neurosis?

Why?

Yes, very much so, because you didn’t do anything with previous advice like eating buffalo. All the buffalo are pissed at you now too. Better buffolate or relocate.

I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis, bone spurs and inflammation in my left foot maybe 20 years ago and the doctor told me my running career was pretty much over. I kept running and my right foot would soon have in it all of those ailments. I don't remember the mileage I was doing at that time but was running all of the time. Up until the last year when I have been dealing with a knee issue the previous 8 years was pretty much 85 miles a week almost non-stop and at an elite level (I am older). About 4 of those years the pain was in my left foot and then the left foot stopped hurting and the right foot began hurting but I was still able to run. I generally try to run on the grass as it is a bit softer but am still able to run consistently after 20 years when I was told my career was over.

Bump

"Will arthritis in your foot prevent you from running again?"

No. I don't have arthritis in my foot.

What if someone does

I have severe osteoarthritis in one knee. It has pretty much ended my running. The discomfort of running is not offset by the enjoyment of running. Before it got to this point my orthopedic doc said that I can run as long as I can tolerate the pain and adjust. For a while I made sure I only ran on soft surfaces and went to a more cushioned shoe.

I would think that if you can tolerate the pain you can run although with some adjustments.

Best wishes.

"Arthritis" is a generic description of findings on imaging. It has nothing to do with what you can and cant do. Pain...is what limits you. I have patients with a little djd and cant walk, and folks with bone on bone djd that go about their business. The human body...is weird. Your doc will say you can wear orthotics to support the joint, cortisone as needed ( very tiny amoint in that joint), tylenol now and then...it just depends on your symptoms. We call this "clinical" medicine. You dont treat xrays, you treat people. I would not be remotely surprised if you run 100 mpw for the next 20 years, or require surgery or anything in between. Its symptom driven.

Btw, if it took an MR to see arthritis in that joint...its a tiny bit. Any sig arthritis in that joint is easily visualized on plain xrays. So, my susp is you got an MR because you have pain (somewhere?) and xrays were normal? MRIs find every little thing. They are almost never normal. So, lot to unpack with so little history. Was the djd of TN joint an incidental finding? If so ignore it and move on. Or is that where your pain is.....