Why is my little toe numb
What Causes Numb Toes- An Indianapolis Podiatrist Discusses This Condition
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hello this is dr. Scott Gilbert the
video footage here with another video
for you in all things foot and ankle
today I'm going to talk about the
various different causes of why you
would get numbness in your toes many
people experience these symptoms but are
often at a loss as to why they occur one
common misperception is that numb toes
as a result of poor circulation going
into the the foot of the leg or even the
toe itself and that's simply not true
numbness is a sign of disease of nerves
and not necessarily a disease of
circulation going into the foot so I'm
going to go ahead and start talking
about the various different causes of
numb toes kind of starting with some
very specific locations of where you can
experience that numbness and then expand
that beyond to numbness that may involve
the entire number of all the toes or the
entire foot itself to start off with
I'll discuss what usually causes
numbness when it's just two toes that
are next to each other either on the
bottom of those toes or even on in the
inner sides in between those two toes
the most likely cause of numbness in two
toes and it's often going to include the
third and fourth toe where sometimes the
second and third toe when you count from
the big toe over to the last toe which
is considered a fit toe the cause of
those symptoms is often something called
a neuroma now neuroma is simply a
pinched nerve in essence under on the
underside of the foot underneath the
metatarsal bones or rather in between
the metatarsal bones which are the
larger bones that are sort of going
through the majority of the length of
the middle part of the foot kind of
ending at the base of the toes these
metatarsal bones there's five of them
corresponding with one with each toe
basically have a ligament that runs in
between each of them and on the
underside of them of that ligament runs
a nerve that gives sensation to two
different toes that are sitting next to
each other due to various different
mechanical reasons sometimes that
ligament can irritate the nerve that
lies underneath it and other things can
also irritate that
as well which can cause inflammation or
swelling around the nerve as that nerve
tissue becomes swollen on its outer
layer it can become damaged and this can
create the sensation numbness in the
toes and it can also cause a number of
other different symptoms including a
burning sensation or the feeling like
you're walking on a hard pebble on the
under surface of the foot when the tops
of the toes feel numb there's a
different cause often this cause is due
to irritation of one of the nerves that
runs along the top of the foot there's a
couple that run sort of over the top of
the middle part of the foot the cause of
this irritation is usually sort of a
spur that can form on the top of the
middle part of the foot in some of the
various different joints that form that
surface and that spur can irritate the
nerve from underneath and the tongue of
the shoe can also irritate the nerve
from the top as its as the nerve gets
pressed in between the shoe and the and
the bone underneath and that can give a
sensation of numbness to the tops of the
toes which can be a little bit of a
different sensation than when it's on
the bottom of the toes and caused by a
neuroma now if the the entirety of the
bottom of the foot or just simply the
bottom of multiple toes more than just
two are numb sometimes the cause of that
can be irritation to a nerve that runs
on the inner side of the ankle there's a
region in the ankle called tarsal tunnel
which is kind of similar to the carpal
tunnel in the wrist and there's a large
nerve that runs through this area and
due to a wide variety different issues
including fibrosis or constriction of
the ligament that sits over Neath this
tunnel as well as other things pressure
can be placed on that nerve and that
nerve can sort of miss function or mitt
and the fibers can misfire you can end
up with numbness and even pain burning
and tingling and other symptoms that can
be felt to various different parts on
the bottom of the foot or is simply the
bottom of the toes as well in more than
one toe because that there has branches
that go to all five toes
now if the numbness is simply to the
outer toes the fourth and fifth toes or
to the side of the foot there can be a
couple of other different causes there
is a nerve that runs along the outer
part of the ankle called the sural nerve
and that can become injured through wide
variety different reasons including
sprains and other types of a soft tissue
injury that can cause a physical damage
that nerve and the end result would be
numbness to the side of the foot or to
the fourth and fifth toes now sometimes
that damage is not just at that nerve
level around the ankle but coming from
further on up or the basically the root
of that nerve begins which is something
called a common peroneal nerve and that
nerve root is basically located or the
origin of that nerve structure is
located on the outer side of the knee
and sometimes for various reasons that
tissue can become irritated and that can
create similar symptoms but also
sometimes that can create more problems
with the outer side of the leg too as
well not just within the foot now if
you're experiencing numbness to the
entirety of your foot or to the entirety
of the toes which can include the tops
and the bottoms of the toes then the
problem may not actually lie in the foot
itself it may actually lie in the nerve
structure that runs higher on up and
most often the reason for this is damage
or irritation to the root nerves that
come out of the actual spinal cord
itself slip discs spinal arthritis and
lots of other different types of
injuries can create this compression on
the spinal nerve and that can create a
lot of these symptoms
now sometimes numbness in the toes has
actually nothing to do with physical
damage to nerves itself in as much it
has to do with diseases that affect the
way the nerve functions overall in the
body and this is often the case when
both feet are involved where both where
all the toes in both feet are numb
or a wider variety of different areas
feel numbness including numbers of the
foot ankle and going up the leg there
are number of different conditions that
can cause this problem
the most common one is diabetes which
can create a signal
can amount of nerve damage just because
of the way that the process of how
diabetes occur which is increased blood
sugar that's not being put into the body
cells can create a whole host of
different types of nerve damage
chemically as well as physically because
of problems with the way that the blood
flow that goes to the nerves is affected
in the diabetic process other conditions
which can create similar symptoms could
include thyroid disease problems with
vitamin B deficiencies folate
deficiencies past history of excessive
alcohol consumption and there are also
certain kinds of medications and cancer
treatment courses that can also create
very similar symptoms so as you can see
there's a lot of different causes for
why people develop numb toes it's not
just one simple answer unfortunately and
if you are experiencing this it's best
to go see a foot specialist right away
to at least rule out whether or not the
problem is rooted within your foot
itself and to get proper treatment for
that or for if it's a more general cause
like the other diseases and I talked
about just recently well I hope you
enjoyed this video please look for more
videos and all things Foot and Ankle
this site as well as others or you may
check out my website at wwlp.com thank
you
you
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