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Most people are familiar with the feeling of numbness – when fingers, hands or feet go numb, for example, due to squeezing of blood vessels. Women who like to cross their legs in a sitting position are well aware of how the leg gradually becomes numb due to blood vessels squeezed under the knee. Normally, a light warm-up is enough, just move the numb part of the body a few times, and the sensitivity is restored. But can numbness be caused by other reasons, and what to do if it does not go away?
What is toe numbness and why does it appear?
A person feels numbness of the toes when nerves or blood vessels are damaged, when blood circulation is disturbed, when blood does not flow normally to the limb. Fingers at the same time lose sensitivity or a slight tingling may be felt. Such a state can only be localized in one leg, or, in the toes of both feet, as well as in the fingers. Often, toe numbness is the first manifestation of a pinched sciatic nerve in humans. In addition, the condition may be accompanied by pain in the back, in the legs, impaired motor ability of the fingers and the entire limb.
In everyday life, even in a healthy person, the fingers become numb due to a long stay in an uncomfortable position, after throwing one leg over the other, due to the position taken, compression (squeezing) of blood vessels and nerve endings occurs, and the sensitivity of a certain part of the body disappears. This condition does not require treatment, as it goes away on its own – one has only to get up, disperse, release the leg and allow blood to circulate freely in limbs.
But what if the sensitivity does not return? There are a number of diseases in which the sensitivity of the toes is lost. Thus, the causes of numbness mainly relate either to pathologies of the spine or to diseases of the musculoskeletal system.th apparatus of bodiesor to nervous and vascular diseases.
In patients with numbness of the toes, such destructive processes in the body are often found:
- osteochondrosis;
- spondylosis (complication of osteochondrosis) in the lumbar region;
- vertebral instability;
- intervertebral hernia, tumors of the spine;
- bursitis and arthrosis of the knee joint;
- radiculitis and inflammation of the sciatic nerve;
- tunnel syndromes, for example, irritation of the obturator nerve, infringement of the lateral cutaneous nerve;
- obliterating endarteritis, vascular atherosclerosis, that is, occlusive vascular disease;
- pathological conditions of the central nervous system: microstroke, multiple sclerosis (usually lead to extensive numbness, including hands and feet, feet);
- of the less obvious causes of numbness in the toes are tuberculosis, diabetes, and the state of pregnancy.
In addition, numbness can occur if nerve endings or blood vessels have been damaged, for example, after surgery, and also due to extensive intoxication of the body (after chemotherapy).
Diagnosing a numbing condition
Due to the abundance of possible causes of pathology, it is not advisable to consider it as the main symptom in the process of making a diagnosis. For the purposes of diagnosis, it is necessary to take into account all the clinical signs that accompany the condition – these can be pain, dizziness, tingling in the muscles. In addition, it is necessary to accurately determine the localization of the loss of sensation – it can cover only one leg, it can be combined with numbness of the entire leg, or parts from the knee to the fingers, it can affect the pads or fingertips, the area under the fingers.
Determining the cause, making a diagnosis and prescribing therapy to treat the problem is possible only after a thorough examination of the patient, clarification of all physical and clinical indications. The patient may be referred for x-rays, MRI, computed tomography, ultrasound diagnostics, or examination with a thermal imager. To determine vascular pathologies, Doppler ultrasound of the vessels is of particular value.
Therapeutic therapy to normalize the patient’s condition
First of all, in order to restore the sensitivity of that part of the body where the violation occurred, the impact should be directed to the cause of the numbness. If the problem is spinal osteochondrosis, therapeutic measures should be aimed at eliminating its complications, including disc protrusion, displacement and instability of the vertebrae, which can cause pinching of the nerve roots of the spinal nerves.
If necessary, drug therapy is prescribed, depending on the source of the formation of loss of sensitivity – this can be antibiotic therapy, antihistamines, the use of special ointments, for example, Vasonita, Troxevasin.
Physiotherapy in the form of ultrasound or laser therapy helps to restore sensitivity to the toes, in addition, help to reduce swelling, anesthetize the affected areas. Laser exposure restores nerve and muscle conduction, stimulates the regeneration of cartilage tissue.
Electrotherapy with the influence of currents of low power helps, depending on the situation, to stimulate spasm of the lower limb, or, conversely, cause it to relax. Shock wave therapy promotes the destruction of salt deposits (thorns and osteophytes), which can partially affect the level of sensitivity of the toes.
Back and limb massage is one of the most popular and effective ways to restore lost sensitivity. speechless zones, restore blood circulation and oxygen access to cells.
Numbness of the toes is a condition that often occurs in people at night, while sleeping in an uncomfortable position. It can also occur during wakefulness, when a person sits for a long time in an uncomfortable position in which blood flow to the limb is disturbed. To normalize the condition, it is usually enough to perform a few simple exercises, move the leg a little, and tighten the muscles. If numbness occurs for no apparent reason, when walking, is accompanied by pain in any parts of the body, spasms, discoloration of the skin, and is permanent, you should seek medical help to determine the cause of the pathological condition.