Osteoarthritis of the ankle leads to tenderness, pain, swelling, stiffness, and even an inability to bear weight that in turn change how you walk leading to additional stress on other parts of the foot and increased likelihood of additional injury. When arthritis reaches a point where quality of life is significantly compromised, one of several invasive surgical interventions may be recommended including ankle fusion, a procedure that uses screws to severely limit ankle mobility, or ankle joint replacement, a complex procedure that involves replacing a part of the extremely complex ankle joint. Both of these surgical options come with significant downtime and need for pain management.