“Doctor, my diabetes is under control, so why do my feet still burn and tingle?”
Keywords: Peripheral neuropathy, burning feet
Peripheral Neuropathy (PN)
One of the unfortunate and uncomfortable side effects of diabetes is neuropathy of the feet. Neuropathy is the break down and degeneration of a nerve. In the feet we have many tiny nerves all throughout the tissues to give us sensation. These nerves provide feedback to our brains to feel the ground while we walk, to tell us if we are on a hot or cold surface, etc.
Along each nerve are very small blood vessels that “feed” the nerves. They bring oxygen and other vital nutrients to the nerves to keep them alive and healthy. Diabetes causes a loss of blood flow. This starves the nerves and they begin to wither and deteriorate.
Burning, Tingling Sensation in Feet
One of the earliest symptoms of diabetic peripheral neuropathy is a tingling sensation of the toes. Prickly, pins and needles, falling asleep are all common ways to describe these early symptoms. It can occur for brief periods during the day then go away. Eventually, the symptoms last longer and longer. This is a sign the nerves are deteriorating. The tingling can spread to more and more of the foot and may eventually go up to your ankle or calf.
Numbness of Feet
People often confuse tingling for numbness. Tingling is considered a form of pain. Numbness however is a lack of sensation. When you touch something with your foot, you notice you don’t sense it very well. Rather than distinct sensations you feel a vagueness or fuzziness. You may notice stepping onto a cool tile floor one foot senses the cool less than the other foot. Or you may notice walking on carpet or grass you don’t feel the texture. Loss of feeling is a sign of worsening neuropathy. It is a later sign than tingling.
You may have both tingling and numbness at the same time. In more advanced neuropathy you may have total numbness, meaning you have no sensation at all. This is very bad. If you don’t feel your feet you may step on sharp objects and cut your feet and not know it and become infected. Or you may have trouble walking.
Difficulty Walking
With advancing deterioration of the nerves in your feet, you may find it difficult to walk. You may notice feeling more clumsy or tripping. That’s because you can’t sense where your feet are and unless you’re looking down at your feet you cannot place them correctly and stumble. And because you have to watch your feet, you may bump into things because you’re not watching where you are walking. Falling can cause even more injuries like fractures and head injuries.
Controlling Blood Sugar for Diabetes
Your doctor no doubt put you on a treatment plan of medication and lifestyle changes. These treatments are designed to control your blood sugar levels that have caused your diabetes and secondarily your neuropathy. These treatments are vitally important to keep your diabetes in check. You’d think that with your diabetes under control that your neuropathy would go away, right? Unfortunately that’s not the case. Getting your blood sugar to normal levels is important for your diabetes, but it won’t repair your nerve damage.
Even Though Your Blood Sugar is Normal You Still Feel Burning, Tingling or Numbness in Your Feet
Repair the Nerves to Relieve Peripheral Neuropathy
Now that your blood sugar is under control, it’s now time to actually repair the nerves in your feet. As long as the nerves are not more than 85% damaged, they can come back. Over time. With the right treatment. Seems simple, but for some reason doctors complicate this.
Improved Blood Flow
To repair your nerves, you need proper blood flow to the nerves. The small blood vessels may have closed down to not allow blood to pass. Some vessels may have actually died off entirely. Luckily, there are treatments available that causes blood vessels to open. Also, there are treatments that can cause “angiogensis” or regrowth of blood vessels. The use of light therapies (LED and laser) can cause increased blood flow and regrowth of new vessels. There are also dietary supplements that can enhance blood flow. The treatments are non-drug and non-surgical with no side-effects.
Repair Nerve Tissue
Improved blood flow helps heal nerves. There are also treatments that directly stimulates the nerves and repairs them. Nerve regeneration occurs very slowly, but it does occur. We once thought nerves don’t regrow. We know now they do, but rather slowly–months. The type of stimulation required to regenerate nerves is different than the typical muscle stimulation electrical therapies you may have had with a physical therapist or chiropractor in the past. This special form of electrical impulse causes nerves to function better. This therapy is actually used by The Cancer Treatment Centers of America for their chemotherapy induced neuropathy patients.
Most doctors try other EMS treatments with little to no results because they don’t know about the type of therapy designed for neuropathy rather than muscles.
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