| Malamute |
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The distal medial part of my big toe went numb last week and has remained so. Only the part distal to the interphalangeal joint is affected. It is tough to describe - it feels like the type of numbness that one would feel after icing it for a while, which I haven't been. I think I have some sensation on the skin, but it feels like if I push on it, I don't have much of a sense of harder pressure in the tissue below. I have had it for about 10 days now and it has been unchanged. It hasn't affected my running, and hasn't gotten any worse. The area is normal temperature and I don't have any other neurological signs anywhere. I took one OTC NSAID and it didn't change anything. Does anybody have any thoughts on what could cause this so suddenly and have it persist this long without any change? The only things out of the ordinary surrounding the onset are: - It happened about 1.5-2 days after a 16 hour flight (that is when I first noticed it, at least). My SI joint on that side has felt a little sore, so a pinched nerve crossed my mind and thought this was the greatest possibility. Also, I thought a tiny clot could have caused it. However, both seemed unlikely, given the very small specific region affected in the absence of any other signs. - I rolled my ankle on a run the morning it happened (or it may have been the day before that), but I have rolled my ankle other times without incident (never had an ankle sprain either). I didn't experience any sudden numbness or pain at that time, and was able to continue with my run as normal. - I also had a rash attributable to poison sumac (considering I was clearing it from my yard a few days earlier`). The rash combined with this neuro sign made me wonder about shingles, but I didn't have any pain whatsoever, so I think it is just the poison sumac. Any help? |
| Malamute |
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Any help? |
| poiu |
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Interestttinggg. We all get transient paresthesias every now and then, but as you've noted, this has been going on for a while. I agree with most of your thoughts... it would be quite rare for this to be from a clot. Usually on flights people worry about DVT, which are more of a threat to your lungs, not the arterial circ. or CNS... A few of my thoughts/questions: 1) How old are you, are you M/F 2) ANy changes in shoes you wear, etc... 3) Have you hurt/hit/bumped your leg at all? 4) Medications? 5) Signif. past med. hx? |
| Malamute |
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To answer your questions: 33 year old male. Yes, I did actually change my footwear. I am just getting back into running after a long layoff, only going about 3 days per week, with no more than 30 minutes of running at a time. However, it came on after only one use of my new shoes (and I did something like an hour walk with 10 one minute runs in it). I would say I noticed it about 3-4 hours after that walk/run. It has persisted 24 hours a day since, including now when I haven't run or used those shoes for 3 days. I don't remember hurting or bumping my leg at all, but I am sure my leg was in an awkward position at times during that long flight. I took an anti-histamine the day before I noticed the numbness (to help reduce the itchiness of my poison sumac). I don't know that I have ever taken an anti-histamine before, but this didn't seem like a likely side effect of that. I have no significant past medical history - thankfully, I have lived a pretty healthy, medically boring life. |
| poiu |
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Deep peroneal nerve lesions will give you a loss of sensation btwn the first 2 toes, but you'll almost always get a loss of motor functioning along with it. I doubt its associated with the poison sumac or anti histamine. You're posting on LRC so I would say you probably don't have uncontrolled diabetes... but I can't say that for sure. Folate deficiency and all the things that cause it... There are a host of degenerative/neurological conditions that present with paresthesias and peripheral neuropathy. Don't go looking online or you'll convince yourself you have MS or something (I've done this myself). The differential is huge, so if it doesn't go away soon I'd hit up the primary care doc and see what they have to say. Goodluck |
| Malamute |
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I agree - huge differential list of things that could affect the nerve. It is weird because it just came on so suddenly. I'll probably make an appointment with a PCP - I imagine this will wind up being a wild goose chase with no definitive answer in the end, some sort of "idiopathic" thing. I may see my chiropractor for an adjustment first - he has done good things for me in the past, so I figure it is worth a try (although I doubt my back being out could affect such a pinpoint area distally). |
| poiu |
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careful with the "c" word around these parts, although I don't think anybody else is reading this ;) imo chiropractors have their place, and that place is musculoskeletal. If you trust your guy to refer you elsewhere when it is beyond his scope of practice, then go for it. It might be what you need. I've seen/heard far too many stories of important diagnoses being missed after a goose chase down the road of "entrapment syndromes" |
| Mojo Jerkin |
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A couple of years ago I hiked in the Grand Canyon for a few days. About a day after I returned, I lost feeling in both big toes. I didn't feel anything strange while on the hike, but my shoes were a bit tight. It didn't really affect me much - it wasn't painful, but just weird. I could squeeze my big toes as hard as I could and I would just feel a little pressure. After a few months I thought I should finally see a doctor about it, but then it went away as mysteriously as it came. So, I guess this might be something that will just heal itself for you. I figured my tight shoes probably caused some nerve issue that repaired itself. |
| Malamute |
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No difference in it. Saw my PCP who said to keep an eye on it and if it changes, we'll look further into it, which is what I figured. But, the amusing part I am posting here is my conversation with a chiropractor about this. This was not the chiropractor I go to, but rather a chiropractor I was talking to at a friend's house this weekend, and he said he loved working with athletes to enhance performance. Earlier in our conversation about training, I told him I used to do 60 miles of running or so per week (to which he replied, "that's a lot!" I later asked him if he had any thoughts on my numb toe, and he said something like "Well, running 60 miles a week pretty much explains it" or something to that effect. I replied that I haven't done a 60 mile week, let alone a 20 mile week in many years, and that really isn't that much mileage. Nice guy, good conversation, but really, this is a classic example of the "run less" mentality that many health care practitioners have in attempting to treat runners. |
| Ceri |
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Hi Malamute, I just found this thread from a year ago. I am experiencing exactly the same symptoms as you have described. I'm a runner too but the numbness in my big toe suddenly came on after I was at a festival (and doing a lot of jumping up and down). It's been there for about 2 weeks and i'm worried it's MS or some other awful degenerative condition... I was wondering did you find out what the cause of it was? And did you get normal sensation in your toe back in the end? Thanks Ceri |
| alejandro |
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Sounds a bit like gout. |
| Ceri |
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I don't think it's gout as I'm a 22 year old girl and there is no redness, swelling or pain. Just loss of light touch sensation of my right big toe. |
| Dr. Feelgood |
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Have you been eating a lot of cheesecake, fatty beef and whiskey? That's what gets my gout fired up. |
| Ceri |
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It's not gout. |
| Karen |
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Hi there. I just completed a 96km endurance race with shoes on and muddy for 24 hours. I woke up this morning with a numb big toe. It's not painful just annoying. And no, it's not gout. I'll let you know how long it takes to go away. I'm not too concerned with it at the moment. |
| Malamute |
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I came on here this morning and was surprised to see this thread from a year ago. The numbness persisted for at least a month after my last post. I got used to it and forgot about it and then one day I realized it was gone, and it hasn't been back. It was numb to very light pressure, and the deep pressure response felt blunted. It never spread beyond the original region (distal medial region). Hope that provides some encouragement! |
| JoshMD |
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This is something that I've been dealing with for the past couple of years. I get a numb big toe for a few weeks and then it goes away. This is ABSOLUTELY NOT gout. Probably what we are all dealing with is some degree of nerve inflammation or very mild entrapment secondary to a bit of regional inflammation from overuse. Oe dose of NSAIDs won't change anything, but it is possible that a short (1week) course of NSAIDs would help cool things down. |