 [ Symptoms ] how fast can arthritis develope in a broken foot i broke my left foot over a year ago and am still having problems i have been told it is arthritis and nothing can be done except fuse the foot what no one can or will tell me is why no problem before breaking the foot but after breaking it i suddenly have arthritis can it develop that fast i feel like the doctors and insurance nurse just want me to go away thank you [ Disease ] hm you raise an interesting question it is true that broken bones may be more prone to developing arthritis it helps to understand that osteoarthritis which is what we are talking about here does not necessarily mean the development of painful bony spurs in a joint which is what a lot of people think technically osteoarthritis refers to the raw edges of two pieces of bone rubbing together painfully we usually think of osteoarthritis as something that comes on gradually over the course of years because that is how the disease usually progresses in healthy tissue osteoarthritis is called the wear and tear disease because under normal circumstances the cartilage between bones in a joint wears away over the decades until the two pieces of bone grind against each other however the course may be different for osteoarthritis caused by trauma such as a broken bone i would suggest you sit down with your doctor and have him or her define arthritis for you so that you understand better what they are talking about they should also be able to explain in very clear terms how it is arthritis could develop in your foot so quickly i hope this information helps i happened to be in the same boat as you except i now know for sure i have to have fusion in my wrist which will dramatically reduce my wrist is range of motion i fractured my wrist twice first time very badly in 1981 and the second time only about 2 years ago although it was set correctly yet the second time it broke very easily because it had become suseptive to breakage due to the first severe fracture it only took one year for my wrist to develope arthritis to the extend that the only solution now is fusion withtitanium i have very soft bones and my body is arthitis proned and any trauma to my bones especially to areas that bones connect to catlidge soon develope arthritis in your case i think for one your fracture must have been relatively severe and in an area where jointcartlidge has an imprtant and pehaps muli range function and two it could have not been set very correctly and or your joints like mine are proned to arthritis due trauma physical therapy is very important after the bone heals age certainly has someting to do with it in other words the younger one is the better and quicker the bone and cartlidge heal and thus the likelihood of development of arthritis is less what triggers arthritis is when cartlidges between two connecting bones ware off due to either age or trauma usually when the connecting bone to the cartlidge is repositioned off its normal or natural position which can occur with bone fracture or even after it set do get second and third openion from expert surgeons good luck had this happen to me did the fussion 3 times and they all failed i am type 2 diabetic so