How to Know When Your Foot Pain Requires Medical Attention

Your peripheral nerves start in your spinal cord and extend to your arms, hands, legs, and feet. If these nerves get damaged, you can develop peripheral neuropathy, which can exhibit various symptoms, such as pain, tingling, and numbness in a number of areas, including your feet.

In this blog, the medical professionals at Neuropathy Treatment Clinics of Texas discuss what can cause peripheral neuropathy and how it can be treated.

What causes neuropathy?

Peripheral neuropathy occurs because the nerve endings don’t receive adequate blood flow. And if the blood flow is not adequate, the nerves will not get the oxygen and other nutrients they need. When this occurs, the nerves can malfunction and begin to degenerate, resulting in painful symptoms.

Peripheral neuropathy symptoms often begin gradually, but they usually increase in frequency and severity over time. The longer you wait to get treatment, the worse your symptoms may become. That’s why you need to seek treatment as soon as possible.

The most common cause of peripheral neuropathy is diabetes. About two-thirds of patients with diabetes develop it at some point. Other reasons include:

  • Genetics
  • Undergoing chemotherapy (One-third of people who get chemotherapy develop it.)
  • Autoimmune diseases
  • Inflammatory infections
  • Alcoholism

Symptoms that need medical attention

If you have any of the following symptoms in your feet, legs, or hands, it’s time to make an appointment with a specialist:

  • Tingling
  • Pins and needles
  • Burning sensations
  • Pinching sensations
  • Buzzing, as if your foot has an electric current in it
  • Sharp pain
  • Deep stabbing pain
  • Cramps
  • Numbness

Peripheral neuropathy can become very debilitating, because the pain is often worse at night. Sleep deprivation, especially over a prolonged period of time, can have serious health consequences, including heart disease and a weakened immune system.

Treating neuropathy

While taking pain relievers can help with the pain of peripheral neuropathy, it isn’t the most effective treatment. Studies show that even prescription pain relievers generally only help ease the pain by 30-50%. Furthermore, taking pain relievers is not a long-term solution.

Instead of prescribing drugs or implanting a device, the health specialists at Neuropathy Treatment Clinics of Texas use electrical cell signaling treatment (ECST). Instead of only treating symptoms, ECST begins to heal damaged nerve cells.

This state-of-the-art treatment also affects the pain signals to help reduce pain. Furthermore, ECST may be able to reduce inflammation.

If you have peripheral neuropathy or want to see if you do, book an appointment online or over the phone with Neuropathy Treatment Clinics of Texas and get a thorough evaluation and, if needed, treatment.