Hallux limitus is the medical word for arthritis of the great toe which is the most common area to encounter arthritis in the foot.  Symptoms typically consist of lack of motion and pain to the joint with associated bony formation present to the top of the joint.  When you compare your great toe joints you may see the painful one not bending as far upward as the uninvolved joint.  There may also be grinding associated with this.

Treatment consists of flatter shoes to decrease the amount of motion to the joint, NSAIDS such as ibuprofen, cortisone injections, and surgical correction.   Surgical correction may consist of cleaning out the fragments and arthritis from the joint, inserting an implant, or fusing the joint.  Most of the times if this is caught early enough, cleaning out the joint or performing a cheilectomy will resolve the problem.