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Suggest Treatment For Numbness In Toes
Posted on
Wed, 17 Sep 2014
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Wed, 17 Sep 2014
Answered on
Mon, 6 Oct 2014
Last reviewed on
Question : I am having numbness in my toes but not at the ends, just the tops
Brief Answer:
Compression neuropathy is surely possible
Detailed Answer:
Good morning. My name is Dr. Saghafi and I am a neurologist in XXXXXXX OH, USA.
Certainly, kneeling and placing pressure squarely and firmly on the tops of the feet as you mention could conceivably cause a bit of what we refer to as a COMPRESSION NEUROPATHY. Did you feel the numbness occurring shortly after all that gardening or whatever activity it was you were doing was done? Are you sure there wasn't some of that going on BEFORE you did the kneeling?
Perhaps, you were praying that Scotland not withdraw from Great Britain? Tell 'ya what...if that happens a lot of people on this side of the globe aren't going to be able to point to where England is on the map anymore! LOL....interesting situation over there, wouldn't you say?
At any rate, how did this numbness go?
Now, to your other concern about alcoholic neuropathy. In my experience as a neurologist here in a country where they love their beer and liquor just like the next average XXXXXXX ..or even XXXXXXX ..the most common presenting symptoms I hear from patients in terms of neuropathy in the feet which we ultimate relate to alcohol is a very painful, upsetting, and entirely distasteful BURNING DISPLEASURE....All the feet and nothing but the feet....doesn't sound like your case though so I'm not convinced of that as a secure reason.
Which doesn't mean you're not going to get a bit of a finger waggin' from me simply based upon true confessions to your doctor. Now lad, tell me, just how much do you imbibe? And does the wife know about it? Are you a rugby player, weekend warrior type of man who likes his drink, or are you more of a daily put kind of guy? And what kind of drink do you gravitate to? Is it the good stuff? Or the moonshine?---of course, that'd probably be more around these parts in the Appalachians and Smokies...nonetheless, technology travels worldwide when it's got a purpose and a price! HA!
If you would be suffering from the neuropathic effects of alcohol I'd expect a history from way before the past few days or weeks. There's really no way of proving or disproving the damage the alcohol is doing to one's nervous system except to perhaps look at the brain after a very long time and see if there's atrophy and deterioration happening in certain areas.....very tough to distinguish anything for sure in the limbs or trunk.
Nonetheless, if the story is good and the symptoms even better then, we'd make the call. Again, I'm not hearing the story I'd like to hear to make that particular call so personally, I'd say Nay to Alcohol neuropathy at this point.
If I've helped answer your question a bit more then, your most sincere written feedback and STAR RATING of the value of this conversation would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you'd rather I'd not try and take away Monty Python from his Flying Circus and listen to these really bad jokes...then, by all means CLOSE THE QUERY and be done with me. Otherwise, if you have some questions or comments I'd love to hear them in a return letter at your most expedient convenience.
Please don't hesitate to address future questions directly to YOURS TRULY (i.e. Dariush Saghafi) at the following website on this network:
http://doctor.healthcaremagic.com/doctors/dr-dariush-saghafi/68474
May your day go smoothly and your toes feel more lively...loosen the shoes a bit and let's slow down the tap on the brew....if it ain't alcoholic neuropathy now, well- in the future..it's only a matter of time...best to you!
This query required 28 minutes of physician specific time to review, research, and document in final draft form for envoy.
Compression neuropathy is surely possible
Detailed Answer:
Good morning. My name is Dr. Saghafi and I am a neurologist in XXXXXXX OH, USA.
Certainly, kneeling and placing pressure squarely and firmly on the tops of the feet as you mention could conceivably cause a bit of what we refer to as a COMPRESSION NEUROPATHY. Did you feel the numbness occurring shortly after all that gardening or whatever activity it was you were doing was done? Are you sure there wasn't some of that going on BEFORE you did the kneeling?
Perhaps, you were praying that Scotland not withdraw from Great Britain? Tell 'ya what...if that happens a lot of people on this side of the globe aren't going to be able to point to where England is on the map anymore! LOL....interesting situation over there, wouldn't you say?
At any rate, how did this numbness go?
Now, to your other concern about alcoholic neuropathy. In my experience as a neurologist here in a country where they love their beer and liquor just like the next average XXXXXXX ..or even XXXXXXX ..the most common presenting symptoms I hear from patients in terms of neuropathy in the feet which we ultimate relate to alcohol is a very painful, upsetting, and entirely distasteful BURNING DISPLEASURE....All the feet and nothing but the feet....doesn't sound like your case though so I'm not convinced of that as a secure reason.
Which doesn't mean you're not going to get a bit of a finger waggin' from me simply based upon true confessions to your doctor. Now lad, tell me, just how much do you imbibe? And does the wife know about it? Are you a rugby player, weekend warrior type of man who likes his drink, or are you more of a daily put kind of guy? And what kind of drink do you gravitate to? Is it the good stuff? Or the moonshine?---of course, that'd probably be more around these parts in the Appalachians and Smokies...nonetheless, technology travels worldwide when it's got a purpose and a price! HA!
If you would be suffering from the neuropathic effects of alcohol I'd expect a history from way before the past few days or weeks. There's really no way of proving or disproving the damage the alcohol is doing to one's nervous system except to perhaps look at the brain after a very long time and see if there's atrophy and deterioration happening in certain areas.....very tough to distinguish anything for sure in the limbs or trunk.
Nonetheless, if the story is good and the symptoms even better then, we'd make the call. Again, I'm not hearing the story I'd like to hear to make that particular call so personally, I'd say Nay to Alcohol neuropathy at this point.
If I've helped answer your question a bit more then, your most sincere written feedback and STAR RATING of the value of this conversation would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you'd rather I'd not try and take away Monty Python from his Flying Circus and listen to these really bad jokes...then, by all means CLOSE THE QUERY and be done with me. Otherwise, if you have some questions or comments I'd love to hear them in a return letter at your most expedient convenience.
Please don't hesitate to address future questions directly to YOURS TRULY (i.e. Dariush Saghafi) at the following website on this network:
http://doctor.healthcaremagic.com/doctors/dr-dariush-saghafi/68474
May your day go smoothly and your toes feel more lively...loosen the shoes a bit and let's slow down the tap on the brew....if it ain't alcoholic neuropathy now, well- in the future..it's only a matter of time...best to you!
This query required 28 minutes of physician specific time to review, research, and document in final draft form for envoy.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Ashwin Bhandari
Hello, loved your humourous reply. I was actually working at a coffee table and kneeling. Also 2 weeks ago was painting my kids play center outside and knelt on the grass for a while. I drink beer only but most days. I never get drunk but knock back a few. No other symptoms, was rated top grade at work last year. My wife is not concerned - i have discussed it with her. It does not change my personality so she's fine. Re the feet, are you saying that your patients have it all over the foot i.e. top and bottom? Mine is only in the tops of toes which my own doc suggested it was compression. The nerves on both second toes feel numb but rest is tingling only.
Brief Answer:
Thank you for a bit more information
Detailed Answer:
Good morning (Still) from XXXXXXX Ohio, USA (Still). And thanks for not being scared away by my feeble attempts at making such dry reading go a bit more jolly. But, frankly....I get bored to tears when I read medical textbooks....my goodness...great minds they certainly were....but thank goodness I was never smart enough to enjoy boring the rest of the world! LOL!
Coffee table, kneeling...got it...please excuse the following question...do you weigh TOO MANY STONES to write about? Or are you just STONED enough for your size? HA! You get my question, right? Just want to get a visual of exactly how much you were crushing those poor piggies. Actually, 10 lbs. is considered quite enough to cause a compression neuropathy so long as the pressure is continued for at least 60-120 minutes....then, you'd be expected to get up and either fall flat on your nose or feel as if someone just ran over your feet with a steam roller....flat, swollen, NUMB....
It certainly sounds like you have a very good demeanor at work and at home...I'm sure the family is lovely as is the wife and that would suggest that your beer'ing doesn't materially affect behavior or responsibilities.....HOWEVER, if you're frequency is more than a couple times a week, whether you hold it well or not....it is quite possible that it could be causing toxic effects to your nerves....especially if YOU are worried a bit about it to begin with.....
So, what I'm saying is that I believe cutting back on the alcohol will definitely help you in the long run...especially since my prediction is that you and I (we're about the same age) are likely to see the century mark (AT LEAST) if we take care of ourselves. If you wanted to get a bit of a status check on things as they stand with the alcohol issue have your doctor run the following tests Vit. B12, folate, Vit. B6, Vit. D (total), D2, D3, serum Mg, serum Zinc. If your B12 levels come back on what I call the THRESH HOLD LOW or BORDERLINE levels then, throw in the following: Homocysteine in Urine and serum and Methylmalonic Acid in serum. Those results can tell you if you have a true B12 deficiency or not.
Of course, if you haven't had them done recently I'd do a set of TSH and FT4 (for the thyroid gland) and check your sugar levels out in terms of either a random glucose stick, an HbA1C or even the OLD FASHIONED but quite extraordinarily sensitive GLUCOSE TOLERANCE TEST....since we know that even a mild bit of hyperglycemia without being frankly diabetic can affect sensory nerve function in the body.
Once again, if I've helped answer your question a bit more indepth then, please send in just a little written feedback and STAR RATING and I'll be sure to put you on my Birthday calendar to get in touch with you when it's your Centennial!
If you would like to still gather more information then, please have at it- I'm standing by like a fielder looking up into the glaring sun hoping something doesn't literally knock me out from above! LOL Otherwise, your CLOSING THE QUERY is very much thanked.
Future questions to myself are also greatly appreciated (i.e. Dariush Saghafi) at the following website on this network:
bit.ly/drsaghafi
Cheers to you and yours! But NOT too many bottoms up please....
This query required 46 minutes of physician specific time to review, research, and document in final draft form for envoy.
Thank you for a bit more information
Detailed Answer:
Good morning (Still) from XXXXXXX Ohio, USA (Still). And thanks for not being scared away by my feeble attempts at making such dry reading go a bit more jolly. But, frankly....I get bored to tears when I read medical textbooks....my goodness...great minds they certainly were....but thank goodness I was never smart enough to enjoy boring the rest of the world! LOL!
Coffee table, kneeling...got it...please excuse the following question...do you weigh TOO MANY STONES to write about? Or are you just STONED enough for your size? HA! You get my question, right? Just want to get a visual of exactly how much you were crushing those poor piggies. Actually, 10 lbs. is considered quite enough to cause a compression neuropathy so long as the pressure is continued for at least 60-120 minutes....then, you'd be expected to get up and either fall flat on your nose or feel as if someone just ran over your feet with a steam roller....flat, swollen, NUMB....
It certainly sounds like you have a very good demeanor at work and at home...I'm sure the family is lovely as is the wife and that would suggest that your beer'ing doesn't materially affect behavior or responsibilities.....HOWEVER, if you're frequency is more than a couple times a week, whether you hold it well or not....it is quite possible that it could be causing toxic effects to your nerves....especially if YOU are worried a bit about it to begin with.....
So, what I'm saying is that I believe cutting back on the alcohol will definitely help you in the long run...especially since my prediction is that you and I (we're about the same age) are likely to see the century mark (AT LEAST) if we take care of ourselves. If you wanted to get a bit of a status check on things as they stand with the alcohol issue have your doctor run the following tests Vit. B12, folate, Vit. B6, Vit. D (total), D2, D3, serum Mg, serum Zinc. If your B12 levels come back on what I call the THRESH HOLD LOW or BORDERLINE levels then, throw in the following: Homocysteine in Urine and serum and Methylmalonic Acid in serum. Those results can tell you if you have a true B12 deficiency or not.
Of course, if you haven't had them done recently I'd do a set of TSH and FT4 (for the thyroid gland) and check your sugar levels out in terms of either a random glucose stick, an HbA1C or even the OLD FASHIONED but quite extraordinarily sensitive GLUCOSE TOLERANCE TEST....since we know that even a mild bit of hyperglycemia without being frankly diabetic can affect sensory nerve function in the body.
Once again, if I've helped answer your question a bit more indepth then, please send in just a little written feedback and STAR RATING and I'll be sure to put you on my Birthday calendar to get in touch with you when it's your Centennial!
If you would like to still gather more information then, please have at it- I'm standing by like a fielder looking up into the glaring sun hoping something doesn't literally knock me out from above! LOL Otherwise, your CLOSING THE QUERY is very much thanked.
Future questions to myself are also greatly appreciated (i.e. Dariush Saghafi) at the following website on this network:
bit.ly/drsaghafi
Cheers to you and yours! But NOT too many bottoms up please....
This query required 46 minutes of physician specific time to review, research, and document in final draft form for envoy.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Vaishalee Punj
I am really into heavy rock but I am also 19 st and 6 ft 3 so maybe my poor legs and feet really got a shock.
I had all my bloods done a few weeks ago and sugar and all levels came back within range. The gGT was slightly high but kidney, liver etc, all came in OK. My non fasting sugar/glucose was 5.4.
By the way, you seem to have a similar sense of humour to me, I think it's an age thing, I find people in their teens and 20s very serious these days. I have a neice and a nephew of 14 and 15 and if I take the piss out of anyone they say'don't be nasty'. In my day I'd have just laughed along.
I had all my bloods done a few weeks ago and sugar and all levels came back within range. The gGT was slightly high but kidney, liver etc, all came in OK. My non fasting sugar/glucose was 5.4.
By the way, you seem to have a similar sense of humour to me, I think it's an age thing, I find people in their teens and 20s very serious these days. I have a neice and a nephew of 14 and 15 and if I take the piss out of anyone they say'don't be nasty'. In my day I'd have just laughed along.
Brief Answer:
Sorry to hear we have similar types of humor!
Detailed Answer:
Similar humors make up your fabric as mine? I guess you hadn't planned on staying married much longer! Just teasing....my wife's a gem and has been for 23 years...I'm sure yours is as well....they have to be if similar humors make up our respective innards! LOL.
Now, 19 stone sounds similar to what I had the landscaper throw in the back of the quarter dump truck this summer as we lined the riverbed in back with ornamental gravel....My goodness....your feet had to sustain that? Look, I haven't the foggiest what a STONE really is but I will look it up. Suffice it to say, though that compression with anything over 8-10 lbs. (that's about 4L of milk---nonfat of course) for 60 min. or less if the person is thin is quite sufficient to send any sized peripheral nerve to Lala land. So long as the numbness has converted to intense pain, discoloration of the skin, or pallor and coldness to the touch that doesn't want to come back after a good massage or warming technique then, I expect you should have full recovery.
Next time, do take a break here and there (every 10-15 minutes), get up and walk a bit and then, back to the uncomfortable position that you must take in order to do your work or recreation. Interesting that your take on the younger generation should be that they're too serious....in my household I have the reverse problem. When all of our children are together at once (not often...most are collegiates these days) at some point I have to climb to the top of the house, Strike the Gong and declare that all states of happiness within the bounds of our property line as well as audible laughter to cease immediately as the decibels that these GINORMOUS children make can rival one her Majesty's Royal Ocean Liners pulling into harbor after 3 months at Sea!
And to boot I don't even UNDERSTAND what they are laughing at...do you find that to be the case? I think the kids of today is simply off their rockers...top to bottom....they find the most inane things humorously relevant....I have no idea how my progeny plan on making decent livings to support themselves in the future....I just don't see it! LOL!
Heavy Rock? Now, clarify that please....are we talking, LED ZEPPELIN or AC/DC? Either are allowed on the radio dial whle I'm driving- XXXXXXX is definitely up there as well....but I cannot and do not allow groups that sing to Mosh Pits under any circumstance. Their service in my opinion is target practice for the military....
As we come full circle and I prepare to head off for racquetball battle against youthful types let me simply comment on your labs that you've obtained to date and let you know the obvious that your numbness in the feet cannot be attributed to any of the labs thusfar. Elevated GGT is of no consequence to this situation. I would be interested in knowing about your B12, folate, and other nutritional element assays since the alcohol ingestion can affect those.
Notwithstanding, I'm still of the opinion that your condition is more likely than not due to the compressive factor and nothing more. Have you begun to experience any return of sensation? You could apply warm compresses to the feet or dunk them into the proverbial vats of warm water while you enjoy and an evening in front of your favorite sports teams or National Geographic programming.
Once again, the chat was grand...I hope that a bit more information has become clarified to your benefit and to that end...if you're so inclined a brief redaction of feedback would be most appreciated.
My direct dial address is above and please feel free to direct future questions or comments to it and I'll gladly take my best shot to help you work out concerns.
Cheers!
This query required 35 minutes of physician specific time to review, research, and document in final draft format for envoy.
Sorry to hear we have similar types of humor!
Detailed Answer:
Similar humors make up your fabric as mine? I guess you hadn't planned on staying married much longer! Just teasing....my wife's a gem and has been for 23 years...I'm sure yours is as well....they have to be if similar humors make up our respective innards! LOL.
Now, 19 stone sounds similar to what I had the landscaper throw in the back of the quarter dump truck this summer as we lined the riverbed in back with ornamental gravel....My goodness....your feet had to sustain that? Look, I haven't the foggiest what a STONE really is but I will look it up. Suffice it to say, though that compression with anything over 8-10 lbs. (that's about 4L of milk---nonfat of course) for 60 min. or less if the person is thin is quite sufficient to send any sized peripheral nerve to Lala land. So long as the numbness has converted to intense pain, discoloration of the skin, or pallor and coldness to the touch that doesn't want to come back after a good massage or warming technique then, I expect you should have full recovery.
Next time, do take a break here and there (every 10-15 minutes), get up and walk a bit and then, back to the uncomfortable position that you must take in order to do your work or recreation. Interesting that your take on the younger generation should be that they're too serious....in my household I have the reverse problem. When all of our children are together at once (not often...most are collegiates these days) at some point I have to climb to the top of the house, Strike the Gong and declare that all states of happiness within the bounds of our property line as well as audible laughter to cease immediately as the decibels that these GINORMOUS children make can rival one her Majesty's Royal Ocean Liners pulling into harbor after 3 months at Sea!
And to boot I don't even UNDERSTAND what they are laughing at...do you find that to be the case? I think the kids of today is simply off their rockers...top to bottom....they find the most inane things humorously relevant....I have no idea how my progeny plan on making decent livings to support themselves in the future....I just don't see it! LOL!
Heavy Rock? Now, clarify that please....are we talking, LED ZEPPELIN or AC/DC? Either are allowed on the radio dial whle I'm driving- XXXXXXX is definitely up there as well....but I cannot and do not allow groups that sing to Mosh Pits under any circumstance. Their service in my opinion is target practice for the military....
As we come full circle and I prepare to head off for racquetball battle against youthful types let me simply comment on your labs that you've obtained to date and let you know the obvious that your numbness in the feet cannot be attributed to any of the labs thusfar. Elevated GGT is of no consequence to this situation. I would be interested in knowing about your B12, folate, and other nutritional element assays since the alcohol ingestion can affect those.
Notwithstanding, I'm still of the opinion that your condition is more likely than not due to the compressive factor and nothing more. Have you begun to experience any return of sensation? You could apply warm compresses to the feet or dunk them into the proverbial vats of warm water while you enjoy and an evening in front of your favorite sports teams or National Geographic programming.
Once again, the chat was grand...I hope that a bit more information has become clarified to your benefit and to that end...if you're so inclined a brief redaction of feedback would be most appreciated.
My direct dial address is above and please feel free to direct future questions or comments to it and I'll gladly take my best shot to help you work out concerns.
Cheers!
This query required 35 minutes of physician specific time to review, research, and document in final draft format for envoy.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Yogesh D
Answered by
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