I have numbness in my toes and it seems like they are thick. I recently went to the doctor, but he didn’t see anything and didn’t ask any further questions. Do you know what I can do with it?
Joris Bartstra, journalist with a medical degree.
You have received very little information from the GP. I actually think you’ve let yourself be brushed off a bit easily. The GP should at least tell you what he/she thinks it is. If necessary, he doesn’t know, but then he has to tell why he doesn’t need or can’t do anything with it.
Numbness in the toes, as you describe, is caused by a malfunction of the sensory nerves (polyneuropathy). Usually this has to do with the metabolism. The most common causes are diabetes and a deficiency of B vitamins. This is often related to excessive alcohol consumption. Kidney disease and drug use can also be a cause.
Often no cause is found for the complaints, but extensive research is carried out in some academic hospitals. Assuming you don’t have diabetes, a simple first attempt to get rid of it is to take vitamin B complex tablets.
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Always go to your doctor with urgent questions, the experts are not the right person for that. They also do not diagnose. The other conditions are in line with those of our partner Health Net. you will find them here.
