Surprising Causes of Neuropathy in Your Feet

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At Texas Foot Specialists, we know that peripheral neuropathy can be a puzzling condition for patients. Neuropathy is another word for nerve damage. Since peripheral nerves transmit both sensory information—pain, heat, cold, pressure—and motor function messages to the brain, the symptoms of neuropathy can be quite varied. You may experience one or more of the following in your feet and toes:

  • Pain

  • Tingling

  • Decreased or loss of sensation

  • Numbness

  • Burning

  • Muscle weakness

  • Hypersensitivity to touch

Perhaps the best-known cause of peripheral neuropathy is diabetes. It’s estimated that about 60-70% of patients with this disease also experience neuropathy in their feet. However, there are several other possible sources of nerve damage. These include:

Chemotherapy—about 30-40% of patients undergoing this type of treatment for cancer report suffering for pain, tingling or numbness which is a result of chemo medications. Symptoms may persist for several months after chemotherapy is complete.

Injury—nerve injuries can occur for a number of reasons such as a sports injury, fall or car accident. Sometimes a surgery may also result in nerve damage. Since nerve pathways can be long, the injury doesn’t need to have occurred to your foot for you to experience podiatric symptoms.

Infections—there are a wide variety of viral infections that can cause nerve pain and discomfort. These include Lyme disease, chicken pox, herpes simplex, shingles, West Nile, and HIV.

Vitamin Deficiencies—a lack of certain B vitamins, vitamin E and copper have been connected with neuropathy.

Alcoholism—peripheral neuropathy is common in patients with late stages of alcoholism.

Toxic Exposure—in some cases, exposure to certain metals such as lead, thallium and mercury have been shown to cause peripheral neuropathy.

Kidney and Liver Disease—patients who are dealing with chronic renal failure and severe liver disease are at a higher risk for developing neuropathy as well.

Getting Treatment

As you can see, there are a wide variety of causes for nerve pain and discomfort—many of which you may not immediately connect with symptoms you’re experiencing in your feet. Discovering the source of your nerve discomfort is the first step. If you have any of the symptoms described above, contact our Sugar Land 281-242-4448, Pasadena 281-991-0600, or Houston 713-664-6677 offices. The treatment for peripheral neuropathy will be dependent on the cause. Once our podiatrists, Dr. Bruce Miller and Dr. Gregory Mangum, examine your feet and perform the necessary tests, the correct treatment can be prescribed.