Many people are familiar with this unpleasant sensation when the big toe goes numb, a feeling of chilliness and tingling appears in it. For some, numbness may go away in a few minutes, you just need to change the position of your leg; for others, neither massage nor injections will help. This is understandable: the causes and severity of such symptoms can vary greatly.
The reason may be simple to the point of banality: the person served time or rested his leg. With a change in posture and a few kneading movements, the blood supply in the vessels of the extremities is restored, and the feeling of numbness or pins and needles in the fingers goes away. It could also be due to uncomfortable shoes. The bad habit of crossing your legs is also one of the common reasons why your toe goes numb. By the way, this habit is harmful in itself: in this position, the veins are pinched, blood flow is disrupted, which can provoke the appearance of varicose veins in the legs and in the groin area. Discomfort in the limbs can be caused by a number of diseases. In first place in terms of frequency of manifestations is spinal osteochondrosis. The big toe often goes numb if there is a herniated disc. All these are links in one chain: the blood supply to the tissues of the spine is disrupted, the nerve roots in the lumbar region are pinched, painful symptoms radiate to the leg in the hip or foot area. The medical name for such manifestations is radiculoneuritis. A serious disease such as spinal tuberculosis cannot be ruled out.
One of the dangerous reasons is metabolic disorders
Blood supply to the extremities becomes difficult when metabolic processes in the body fail. Thus, in diabetes mellitus, one of the alarming symptoms of advanced disease may be numbness in the legs that repeats with varying frequency. If your toe becomes numb, cold, or loses sensitivity, this may be a signal of tissue necrosis, and this is one of the most dangerous complications of diabetes. That is why endocrinologists recommend that patients in the very first stages pay special attention to their feet: daily warm baths, massage with olive oil or with a special foot cream. These symptoms almost always appear when a person develops gout. The possibility of arthrosis cannot be ruled out.
Trivial advice: if your toe goes numb, the first thing you need to do is go to the doctor. A visit to a neurologist is necessary, since problems with the spine are within his competence. When there is a suspicion of diabetes mellitus, and even more so if this diagnosis has already been confirmed, you urgently need to contact your attending endocrinologist and describe all the symptoms and get tested. An X-ray of the sore finger can clarify a lot. One thing is clear: under no circumstances should these signals be ignored, nor should one rely on the eternal “and so it will pass” and on self-medication.
Although no one denies the benefits of folk methods as auxiliary ones. Of course, warm foot baths with salt, decoctions of medicinal herbs, and essential oils help. Rubbing and compresses with alcohol tinctures, for example, lilac flowers and horse chestnut fruits, are very useful. And finally, all doctors recommend performing a set of special exercises for joints on your own. All this, along with drug treatment, should give the desired result.
Almost every person has moments when their leg hurts and goes numb. This condition can be associated not only with banal numbness in the legs when the body has been in one position for a long time, but also due to serious pathologies . For this reason, it is necessary to be more sensitive to such cases, as this will help to identify and prevent serious illnesses.
The pathology is characterized by inflammatory processes occurring in the vessels and arteries, including the legs.
My legs begin to hurt even when I walk for a short time. Pain is felt both in the calf muscles and the inner thigh.
Which doctor should I contact?
If pathology is detected, you must visit a cardiologist.
Through capillaroscopy, angiography, Dopplerography, an accurate diagnosis can be made.
To relieve severe pain, antispasmodics are used (“Redergam”, “Angiotrophin”, “Nicotinic acid”). When inflammatory processes occur, “Hydrocortisone” and “Prednisolone” are relevant. To improve the quality of blood vessels, drugs such as Trental, Fibrinolysin, Aspirin, and Hirudin are used.
The disease is explained by “clogging” of blood vessels , creating problems with the passage of blood. Due to this, a person feels some ailments in his legs.
Painful sensations in the legs
The syndrome makes itself felt in areas of vascular damage. The pain is felt by the patient with an aching effect.
Which doctor should I contact for help?
A vascular surgeon is a specialist in the treatment of arthrosis.
Treatment of atherosclerosis of the lower extremities
To solve the problem, an integrated approach is used, including drug treatment and diet. The daily menu should exclude dishes rich in cholesterol.
To lower cholesterol, medications from the statin group are taken (Atoris, Atocord, Anvist, Atomax).
The diseases are characterized by modification and pain in the joints . Pathologies can be caused by infection, deterioration of the immune system, or significant metabolic disorders.
Nature and localization of pain
Unpleasant pain occurs in the affected joints, from the hips to the toes.
Which specialist will help?
If you notice any of the above symptoms, you should consult a rheumatologist. The specialist has a narrow specialization, so he will be able to competently conduct an examination and make a diagnosis of arthritis/arthrosis.
For severe pain, antispasmodics are used in the form of “Nise”, “Diclofenac”, “Ketanov”. In addition, warming ointments are periodically applied to calm pain (Fastum Gel, Capsicam, etc.).
The pathology is a disease of the veins , in which their blockage through the formation of blood clots is possible. The disease is fatal.
Localization and nature of pain
Pain syndrome makes itself felt in the lower leg area. A piercing pain is felt, especially after active movements during the day.
To alleviate the syndromes and prescribe the correct treatment course, you should contact a phlebologist.
The exact state of “clogged” veins can be determined through angioscanning.
The course of treatment includes the use of drugs that block the formation of blood clots (Sipkumar, Dicumarin, Phenilin). In severe, advanced forms of thrombophlebitis, surgical intervention is performed through specialized dissection of the affected area of the vein.
The disease is expressed by the formation of growths on the bone tissue of the heel . The source of the growths is excess salts in the body, which form a heel internal growth.
The source of pain is the heels. With a small growth, the pain is minimal, but in a neglected state the growth does not allow the patient to move normally. The pain has a dull effect, spreading throughout the entire heel.
If you experience persistent pain in the heel area, you should visit a surgeon.
Diagnosis of heel spurs
To relieve symptoms, eliminate salt intake. Shoes with supportive insoles should be worn.
Treatment includes the following possible options:
In case of severe pain effects, pain-relieving blockade injections (Hydrocortisone, Diprospan, Kenalog) can be prescribed.
The disease develops due to insufficient insulin . Diabetes is dangerous because it affects a number of internal organs, as well as the musculoskeletal system.
Localization and nature of pain in the legs
The pain syndrome is wandering in nature. The patient may feel squeezing pain that turns into an aching effect.
To diagnose diabetes, it is enough to consult a physician. The qualifications of a specialist are sufficient to identify the presence of the disease.
After visiting a therapist, the patient is sent to donate blood. The analysis will determine the exact concentration of sugar in the blood.
First of all, attention is paid to diet. “Fast” carbohydrates (sweet desserts, confectionery) are excluded from the diet. If you are overweight, you need to bring your body weight back to normal. Everyday meals are divided: meals are taken 5-6 times a day, but in small portions.
At the initial stage of the disease, you can easily get by with drugs that cause increased insulin production (Maninil, Glyurenorm, Starlix, Amaryl).
The pathology is explained by modification of the vertebral discs , as a result of which a number of pain effects occur that also affect the musculoskeletal system. Pain is caused by irritated nerve endings of the intervertebral tissue. The disease develops in those who lead a sedentary lifestyle.
In the case of lumbar osteochondrosis, the leg hurts and goes numb. The syndrome has a nagging unpleasant effect.
If you suspect osteochondrosis, you should contact a neurologist.
To establish the correct diagnosis, the doctor conducts a mandatory examination of the patient. In addition, a blood test is taken to detect inflammatory processes. To clarify the picture, magnetic resonance imaging is prescribed.
Bed rest is advisable to reduce the patient's physical activity. Painkillers are prescribed that can relieve inflammatory processes, such as Diclofenac.
You should change your lifestyle in order to eliminate such problems with the spine in the future. Everyday exercise can be a worthy prevention of osteochondrosis.
Due to birth trauma or other circumstances, compression of intervertebral tissue by discs . This leads to severe pain syndromes that interfere with a person’s normal active life.
Nature and localization of pain
Pain from compressed disc tissue can easily radiate down the leg. Depending on which side of the disc the “bulging” of intervertebral tissue occurs, that leg hurts. If the tissue is pinched on the right, then the right leg hurts and goes numb, and vice versa. The pain is characterized by a pulling effect, especially in the morning after sleep. To relieve pain, the patient has to walk for a while.
Which specialist should I contact?
The listed symptoms, characteristic of an intervertebral hernia, should prompt you to go to the clinic in order to prevent the development of pathology. To solve the problem, you should make an appointment with a neurologist at the reception desk.
Diagnosis of intervertebral hernia
To establish an accurate diagnosis, it is necessary to conduct magnetic resonance imaging. A study of the spine will most accurately indicate the numbers of diseased vertebrae, indicate the size of the hernia and its quantity.
Treatment of intervertebral hernia
From tablets you can take drugs such as “Nise”, “Ketanov”. To block pain, it is better to use Diclofenac injections. The medication will not only effectively relieve pain, but also reduce inflammation.
In especially severe cases, when the size of the hernia creates almost constant pain, surgical intervention is used through laser removal of part of the intervertebral tissue.
Pathology of the central nervous system, in which nerve fibers are actively covered with hard sclerotic plaques. In this case the nerve signals responsible for visual acuity, body movement, intellectual abilities, etc. deteriorate.
With the development of multiple sclerosis, the patient experiences some weakness in the legs and numbness.
Which doctor can help?
If these signs are detected, you should contact a neurologist.
At the first visit to a neurologist, the specialist conducts a thorough examination of the patient. Upon completion of the external examination, the patient is sent for magnetic resonance imaging.
It is not yet possible to achieve victory over multiple sclerosis due to the lack of a cure. However, there are a number of medications that significantly alleviate the symptoms of the disease.
To maintain the patient in a relatively normal condition, the following medications are prescribed:
If symptoms such as pain and numbness have become your daily companions, do not put off going to the doctor.
Among all the cases when the fingers and toes go numb, one of the most unpleasant and annoying for a person is the one in which the toes go numb. This phenomenon disturbs us especially acutely just before bedtime, although numbness in the fingers will not cause any positive emotions during the day. Therefore, many often ask questions: why does this happen? what to do if your toes go numb? Let's try to figure it all out.
First of all, we are interested in the reasons why the big toes and all other fingers go numb. Several such reasons can be named, and individual toes may have their own factors that cause numbness.
1. If your little toe goes numb.
The most common and, fortunately, simplest cause of numbness in the fingers is uncomfortable shoes. If the little toe on your left foot is numb or the little toe on your right foot is numb, this may be caused by the wrong shoe size. The fact is that when we walk, our feet slightly increase in volume, such is their peculiarity. That is why it is recommended to purchase shoes so that their socks are quite spacious and comfortable. Then your fingers will feel comfortable even during long walks. How to ensure this? When choosing shoes, you should definitely try them on and make sure that there is enough room for your toes to move them. Remember: shoes fit your feet, not the other way around.
2. When your big toes go numb.
These fingers are susceptible to the formation of corns on them. This may also be due to the wrong type of shoes. Unfortunately for women, the main cause of corns on the toes is excessive use of high heels. As a result, your left big toe goes numb, your right big toe goes numb, and subsequently these phenomena will cause not just numbness to spread over the entire surface of the foot, but also pain, sometimes painful and unbearable. What treatment can there be if in this case the toes go numb? It's very simple: free your feet from the shackles of tight shoes, give them freedom. And then you and those around you will be able to enjoy the beauty and health of your feet for a long time.
3. The tips of your toes go numb.
Among the reasons that cause numbness of the toes, one should also mention flat feet, excessively high elevation of the legs, the influence of arthritis, aseptic necrosis and other phenomena and diseases. In such cases, numbness occurs spontaneously and is not entirely explainable to the person himself, for example, when the middle toe goes numb.
4. Effect of fractures on numbness.
Another reason why the toe on the left or right foot goes numb may be a fracture, for example, of the toe joint or its bone. This is explained as follows: injury, regardless of its nature, negatively affects nerve endings, damaging them or causing inflammation. As a result, numbness occurs. Even a simple bruised toe can cause it.
5. Other reasons why the toe on the right or left foot goes numb.
In addition to those already discussed, there are other factors that cause numbness, although they are not as common.
First of all, let’s name the cause as a tumor of the nervous tissue – neuroma. The essence of the disease is the abnormal development of the nerve, its swelling, which is most often observed in relation to the toes. The initial numbness that occurs can spread to the entire foot, and then develop into an extremely complicated form, accompanied by severe pain.
A phenomenon called peripheral neuropathy also occurs in the legs. This disease is quite terrible: if not treated in time, if the toes go numb, treatment will no longer fight the primary signs of neuropathy, but non-healing wounds, terrible pain and a much more complex nature.
Symptoms of danger may include numbness in diabetics, as damage to the nerves in the toes can lead to complete amputation.
It turns out that regardless of the circumstances under which numbness in the toes appears, the best solution would be to consult a doctor, because this phenomenon may indicate extremely dangerous, problematic diseases.