Today, a huge number of ailments are known that must be de alt with when the first symptoms appear, otherwise the consequences can be disastrous. Numbness of the feet (the causes and treatment of this condition will be discussed in detail later) is a very common problem with which a large number of people go to the hospital every year. As a rule, this pathology is associated with impaired functioning of the circulatory or nervous system, but a complete examination is required to make an accurate diagnosis. With paresthesia, as a rule, there is a loss of sensation on the thumb, middle and ring finger. But each case is unique, so the symptoms of the disorder may be different. Let's take a closer look at the main factors influencing the development of the disease, as well as talk about existing methods of therapy.
What could be the problem?
Causes of icy feet and disorderssensitivity may vary. But, as mentioned earlier, most often they are associated with circulatory disorders in the lower extremities and nervous disorders. Doctors say that most often the pathology develops as a result of the following diseases and conditions:
- degenerative-dystrophic changes in the spine;
- osteochondrosis;
- protrusion of the nucleus of the intervertebral disc;
- cardiovascular pathologies of various origins;
- Raynaud's disease;
- diabetes mellitus;
- microstroke;
- overweight;
- endarteritis;
- autoimmune disorders;
- acute ischemic cerebrovascular accident;
- carpal tunnel syndrome;
- chronic hypertension;
- familial amyloidosis;
- malignant tumors;
- damage to blood vessels of various etiologies;
- kidney failure;
- hypocalcemia;
- leprosy;
- rheumatoid arthritis;
- varicose veins;
- spinal stenosis;
- flat feet;
- gout;
- tumor of peripheral nerves;
- alcoholic polyneuropathy;
- intoxication with various chemicals and toxic substances;
- dorsalgia;
- thyroid disease;
- infectious diseases;
- avitaminosis;
- inflammatory lesion of the bone tissue of the lower extremities or spine.
With all of the above diseases, patients may experience numbness of the feet. About the causes and treatment will be moredetailed below in the text. However, as medical statistics show, if a patient seeks qualified help in the first days of symptoms, then the likelihood of a quick recovery is high. This article will look at the most common ailments in which people develop a sensitivity disorder.
Osteochondrosis of the lumbar spine
Every year there are more and more people complaining of loss of sensation in their lower extremities. One of the widespread causes, according to many qualified specialists, is lumbar osteochondrosis. This disease is associated with a decrease in the functioning of the spinal column. It can develop as a result of many negative factors, but, regardless of the etiology, the clinical picture is always the same. In addition to sensory disorders, patients often complain of the following symptoms:
- pain in the lower back;
- impaired mobility;
- feeling cold or hot in the lumbar region;
- low body temperature in the affected area;
- blue skin;
- violation of the normal functioning of the internal organs in the pelvic area.
Noticing the symptoms listed above, you should immediately make an appointment with a qualified doctor. If left untreated, lumbar osteochondrosis will continue to progress. In the later stages, it is not only much more difficult to treat, but also creates a high risk of developing many serious complications, includingdisability.
Hemodiscirculatory processes
When circulatory disorders in the lower extremities (the symptoms of the pathology may be different), people first of all begin to experience numbness in the legs. This is due to insufficient saturation of nerve fibers with nutrients caused by oxygen starvation of soft tissues. As a rule, there are no serious he alth problems with this, and the main reason is as follows:
- vasospasm due to long stay in the cold;
- stay in an uncomfortable position for a long time.
Both conditions are reversible if you move a little and stretch. But it is a completely different matter if a complete or partial violation of sensitivity is caused by some disease of the circulatory system. For example, according to many doctors, numbness of the feet and toes is one of the signs of the following pathologies:
- Raynaud's disease;
- atherosclerosis;
- obliterating endarteritis;
- arterial thrombosis;
- venous edema;
- varicose veins of the legs.
At an increased risk of developing these ailments are people who lead an unhe althy lifestyle. This is especially true for heavy smokers who consume more than one pack of cigarettes per day. Foot numbness is also very common in heart failure. This is a very serious pathological condition in which the heart is not able to pump enough blood to saturate the organs with microelements and oxygen necessaryfor normal life. As a result, the functioning of the whole organism is disrupted, and the risk of developing many concomitant diseases increases.
The clinical picture in this case is pronounced. In addition to numbness of the feet and toes, the patient has the following symptoms:
- severe shortness of breath that can occur even when walking slowly;
- swelling of the lower extremities;
- heart rhythm disorder;
- dry cough, in some cases bloody sputum may come out;
- swelling and pulsation of the cervical veins;
- bluish coloration of the epidermis;
- cold hands and feet;
- tactile disturbance;
- pain in the liver of varying intensity;
- increased urge to urinate;
- abdominal ascites, which may be accompanied by pain;
- fatigue and reduced physical capacity;
- loss of body weight, sometimes reaching extreme exhaustion.
If no action is taken, the disease can become acute, which creates a great threat to human he alth and life. In the absence of qualified medical assistance, everything can end in death. This is due to the fact that left ventricular failure develops, which disrupts the normal functioning of the heart. In this case, patients may experience the following problems:
- numbness of feet and toes;
- weakness all over the body;
- frequent dizziness;
- unpredictable fainting;
- kidney dysfunction;
- breathing disorder;
- bradycardia or tachycardia;
- cyanosis of the epidermis.
With prolonged absence of therapy, heart failure can become chronic. In this case, the chances of being completely cured become almost zero.
Diabetes
Every year this endocrine disease is diagnosed in more and more people. There are many reasons for this, but they are not particularly important. The disease requires constant monitoring and treatment, otherwise it can lead not only to serious he alth problems, but also to the death of the patient. Symptoms may vary, but most people report that their legs go numb with diabetes. Other most common clinical manifestations include:
- increased urge to urinate;
- constant thirst;
- increased appetite;
- failure;
- damage to the internal organs of the genitourinary system of various nature;
- Unclear pronunciation of words.
Since the loss of feeling in the feet is characteristic of many diseases of various origins, if a symptom occurs, it is recommended to go to the hospital for a full examination. The course of treatment depends on the form and severity of the pathological condition, but in most cases it involves limiting physical activity, following a special diet and regularadministration of insulin (in insulin-dependent diabetes), which lowers blood sugar levels. As for the numbness of the lower extremities, in this disease it is associated with damage to the nerve fibers of a non-inflammatory nature. The reason for this pathology is an increased load on the blood vessels, due to which the tissues experience an acute deficiency of nutrients and oxygen.
The patient must be constantly under the supervision of a doctor and strictly adhere to all his prescriptions. Otherwise, there is a high probability of the disease developing into a chronic form and the development of the following very serious pathologies:
- violation of carbohydrate metabolism;
- acute renal dysfunction;;
- hypoglycemia;
- non-acidotic coma;
- lactacidemia.
If the patient continues to ignore the numbness of both feet and does not undertake any treatment, this can result in many negative consequences. Among the most common are the following:
- damage and necrosis of the walls of blood vessels;
- ischemic stroke;
- myocardial infarction;
- diabetic retinopathy;
- chronic hypertension;
- atherosclerosis;
- dystrophy;
- shrunken kidney;
- gangrene;
- vegetative and peripheral nerve dysfunction.
In the early stages of development, the chance of successfully curing diabetes is quite high. But if the disease develops into a chronic form, then the patient will have to suffer with it for the rest of his life.
Neuropathy of the median sciatic nerve
There are many serious pathologies of the central nervous system, accompanied by a sensitivity disorder. One of these is damage to the internal popliteal nerve. The destructive process can be triggered by a number of negative factors:
- varicose veins;
- hemodiscirculatory processes;
- deformation of the feet, accompanied by flattening of their transverse arch;
- inflammation of connective tissue with damage to blood vessels;
- sitting cross-legged for a long time;
- pathologies of the musculoskeletal system;
- various diseases of the spinal column;
- consequences of previous surgeries;
- proliferation of connective tissue cells;
- violation of metabolic processes;
- severe intoxication of the body caused by excessive use of alcohol or drugs;
- local tumor processes.
In the initial stages of neuropathy of the median sciatic nerve, the patient experiences pain in the knee joint, which can be of varying duration and intensity. As the pathology progresses, numbness of the upper part of the foot and fingers is added to the main symptoms. As a rule, the syndrome appears unexpectedly and disappears in the same way.
Alcoholic polyneuropathy of the legs
This is a very serious disease in which there is a strong intoxication of the nervous system due todrinking alcohol in large quantities at a time. To understand how this disease manifests itself, you need to know the symptoms. Treatment of alcoholic polyneuropathy of the lower extremities is prescribed by a qualified doctor after the cause is known. As a rule, the symptoms in each patient manifest themselves in completely different ways. All of them are united only by the fact that in the initial stages people experience numbness of the fingers and feet. Further, the following symptoms make themselves felt:
- cold limbs due to poor circulation;
- blue skin;
- muscle atrophy.
If the patient ignored the clinical manifestations of the disease and did not start any therapy, then everything can end with complete paralysis. But even if this does not happen, the patient will gradually continue to weaken, which, in turn, will negatively affect the work of the whole organism. In very severe cases, amputation of the leg may also be required.
Diagnosis
What is it and what is its peculiarity? Treatment for numbness of the feet and toes depends on the disease that caused this symptom. Therefore, faced with a similar problem, you need to contact a therapist for an examination. First of all, the doctor conducts an oral questioning of the patient and a physical examination in order to identify the essence of the problem, after which he prescribes the necessary laboratory tests. Depending on the suspected diagnosis, the following types of diagnostics may be required:
- blood biochemistry;
- urinalysis;
- angiography;
- ultrasound examination of blood vessels;
- radiography;
- CT;
- MRI;
- tests for cancer markers and infectious agents;
- microbiological research;
- serological analysis;
- RVG;
- bone and nerve biopsy;
- scintigraphy;
- hormonal blood test.
If additional information is needed to make an accurate diagnosis, you may need to consult with these doctors:
- endocrinologist;
- phlebologist;
- neurologist;
- neurosurgeon;
- rheumatologist;
- nephrologist;
- chiropractor;
- vascular cardiologist.
After drawing up a detailed picture of the patient's state of he alth and identifying all the problems present, a therapy program is selected. To cope with a sensory disorder, it is necessary to eliminate the problem behind it. This requires complex treatment. What methods it will include, the attending physician decides. But it will be very problematic to quickly achieve the desired result with medications alone, so the patient, as a rule, is under the supervision of several specialists at once.
Treatment
So, you have foot numbness, what should you do? First of all, you should understand that you should not start taking any medications on your own, as this can aggravate the course of the pathology, complicate further therapy.and lead to the development of many serious complications. The therapy program is selected for each patient individually, depending on the diagnosis. It usually includes:
- taking medication;
- gymnastic exercises;
- physiotherapy treatments;
- therapeutic massage.
From medicines, the following groups of drugs are required:
- antispasmodics;
- muscle relaxants;
- chondroprotectors;
- vitamin complexes;
- means aimed at normalizing blood circulation.
Also, with a disorder of the sensitivity of the legs, physiotherapeutic methods of treatment show good results. In order to increase drug treatment, patients are prescribed:
- transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation;
- UHF therapy;
- magnetotherapy;
- darsonvalization;
- paraffin applications;
- hydrosulphuric baths.
The number of procedures and duration of treatment are determined by a qualified specialist for each patient on an individual basis.
Alternative medicine
Many modern doctors practice folk treatment for foot numbness. They supplement the main therapy program in order to increase its effectiveness. There are many non-traditional therapies that help with sensitivity disorders. Here are some of the most effective ones:
- Before going to bed, you need to smear numb fingers with honey, apply the usualbandage and put on warm socks. In the morning you need to wash your feet in plain warm water.
- Before going to bed, the lower limbs can also be rubbed with camphor ointment. However, they can also be lightly massaged to improve blood flow.
- Pour hot water into a bowl or tub, dip your feet into it and try to press your fingers down as hard as possible.
- Take 10 grams of freshly ground black pepper, mix it with 100 milliliters of vegetable oil, olive oil is best, and heat the mixture in a water bath for 30 minutes. With the resulting remedy, you need to rub your legs twice a day until the numbness disappears completely.
In addition, you should stop walking in tight and uncomfortable shoes, reconsider your daily diet and give up bad habits completely.
Conclusion
Numbness of the legs at first glance may seem like a mere trifle. However, many serious he alth problems and dangerous diseases can be behind it. Therefore, having noticed a similar syndrome in yourself, it is better not to hesitate, but immediately go to the hospital. The sooner treatment is started, the greater the chance of a full recovery. Never take the time to look after your own he alth!
