Rarely are they brought up in a conversation and seldomly are they given their due credit as to their importance but, always are they overlooked until the time of crises when something either goes horribly wrong or even just slightly.
It is pretty reasonable to say that the engine is the heart of the car, but can the car get anywhere if there are no tires on it..? Same essence have the feet with the body and it’s engine, the heart. But what people fail to realize is exactly what they realize when it’s too late; without proper functioning of the feet, the whole body in its entirety is going to falter and even their simple daily tasks are going to feel as if they are moving mountains.
So in simple terms, if the feet are hurting, the whole body is hurting.
In this blog, I am going to link possibly one of the most devastating conditions one can have, namely Peripheral Neuropathy with another condition that many in the U.S have, Diabetes. It has been proven that diabetes is one of the leading causes of peripheral neuropathy and the damage that it can cause can progress to be extremely devastating quite rapidly unless treated from the beginning.
Peripheral neuropathy is caused when nerves which exist outside the human brain and spinal cord and go to all the different parts of the body, especially the feet, are damaged. They no longer can sense or feel anything, hence do not relay the message to the brain and thus the brain does not respond back even in situations that would make a normal person scream, like stepping on a nail and having it pierce right through the skin. Sounds kind of cool as if one has developed super powers to not feel anything but the results could not be any further from the truth. Such conditions can lead to some of the most serious amputations, leaving people with only one limb at times.
Obesity, inactive lifestyle and heredity are some of the potential risk factors for developing diabetes, namely diabetes II which mainly occurs in older people. This increases their chances of acquiring neuropathy which also manifests itself in those at older ages. The root cause of the problem that arises is the damage done to the nerves in the body from constant high blood sugar levels. The nerves which shoot out like roots from the center of the body and keep dividing and branching until all (peripheral) areas of body are covered, like arms, legs, feet etc., start to get damaged and can eventually stop functioning by not sending messages back to the center of the body where the spinal cord is which sends the message to the brain. When this stops happening, a person cannot only have a loss of sensation but also a loss of movement since nerves control both. If one was to experience both of this, it would mean that they are in their later stages of neuropathy and their condition is very serious and immediately should they go see a foot and ankle specialist, especially if these symptoms are occurring in the feet where they usually do start from.
One has to take in consideration that preventative care needs to be addressed very seriously and if any signs of pain, numbness, tingling do occur in and around the feet area, it is a must that one goes to see a podiatrist to treat their conditions so they do not worsen. .
Keep up with these blogs as the next one will get into deeper details as to what one can go through while having peripheral neuropathy via diabetes and the many ways your podiatrist can help prevent, treat and bring relief.
