Do you ever think about all the sensations you pick up through your feet? Vibrations might indicate an oncoming truck or train. Your muscles automatically correct your balance when your feet feel uneven ground beneath them. A burning feeling warns you to protect tender skin from hot pavement, and feeling the cold from bare floors in winter has you scurrying for warm slippers.
But what about when your nerves aren’t working properly? When you have neuropathy, you can feel bad sensations in your feet, even when there is no reason, or fail to perceive issues that really are there.
This inaccuracy in sensing what is happening to you can lead to several problems. Your balance could be thrown off, causing you to fall and injure yourself. You might not notice that you have a cut, blister, or scrape, and end up developing a non-healing ulcer which could become infected (this is common in people with diabetes).
On the other hand, you could begin to feel sharp, shooting pains through your lower legs, feet and toes, even if there is no injury. These can make you uncomfortable, cause your feet and legs to jerk and twitch, and interfere with sleep. They are caused by nerves “misfiring”—sending pain signals to the brain when there is nothing to warrant them.
We mentioned diabetes, but there are many other causes of nerve damage, such as alcoholism, poisons and toxins, inherited diseases, injuries, vitamin deficiencies, and tumors or other tissues pressing on a nerve.
If you are experiencing tingling, numbness, or shooting pains in your feet or legs, contact Ankle and Foot Specialist of New Jersey as soon as possible. We will examine you to discover why your nerves are malfunctioning. We want to catch neuropathy early, before it gets worse and the damage becomes permanent. When treatment is started early, it can relieve the pain and help nerves recover, so don’t delay—call 908-222-8980 today to set up a visit, or use the form on our website. Located between South Plainfield and Edison, NJ, our office serve patients from the Woodbridge, Brunswick, and Newark areas as well.
