Unless your feet are nestled up near the fireplace, there’s no reason why you should be experiencing a burning sensation in your feet. Unfortunately, a large portion of the population of the United States deals with infrequent or chronic burning sensations in one or both of their feet. Today, we take a closer look at why it may feel like your feet are burning, and how the condition is treated.
Causes Of Burning Feet
If you are experiencing a burning or a tingling sensation in your feet, odds are you are dealing with a nerve issue. This condition is known as neuropathy, and it’s a common symptom in diabetic patients who don’t get healthy blood flow in their extremities. Aside from being a symptom of diabetes, nerve damage causing a burning or tingling sensation can be caused by:
- Excessive and prolonged alcohol consumption
- Chronic kidney disease
- Acute trauma
- Hypothyroidism
- Side effects from prescription medications
- Vitamin deficiancy
- Blood vessel inflammation
- Infections
- Peripheral artery disease
One of the more common causes of burning feet that is not related to nerve damage is athlete’s foot, which is an infection of the skin caused by a fungus. We talk more about athlete’s foot here.
Diagnosis and Treatment of Burning Feet
If your doctor believes your foot issue is caused by nerve damage, inflammation or another health issue such as diabetes or nutrient deficiency, they’ll conduct some standard tests. First, your foot specialist will look for outward signs of an infection, then they’ll conduct the standard physical exam. Blood or urine samples may be taken to test for the presence of diabetes or other health conditions, and if none of those options produce a conclusive diagnosis, further testing will take place. Nerve stimulation tests and electromyography tests may be ordered to determine exactly which nerves are damaged and why they are triggering pain sensations.
Once your condition is diagnosed, treatment options will be explained. Treatment options will depend on your exact situation, but some common treatment techniques include:
- Monitoring and keeping blood sugar levels in the appropriate range.
- Dietary changes/Decrease in alcohol consumption.
- Oral medications.
- Insulin injections.
- Vitamin supplements.
- Physical therapy.
- Over-the-counter pain medications.
If pain continues, your foot surgeon may decide that a more hands-on approach is necessary. It may not work for all cases of nerve problems, but when the right conditions are met a nerve injection to paralyze the affected nerve may help prevent pain. Surgery to remove a damaged nerve is rare, but may be an option if the pain is simply caused by acute damage and not another health condition.
If you’re dealing with burning pain in your feet, you can reach out to Dr. Silverman below and ask him any questions you might have.
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