Cold feet, swollen feet, burning feet or misshapen nails can be warning signs of illness. Find out what your feet have to say about your health, and consult your doctor.
Cold Feet
If your feet are often too cold, then you might be having some blood circulation problems. Circulation problems are often related with smoking, heart diseases, high blood pressure or damage from uncontrolled diabetes. Your doctor can help you find the reason for your cold feet.
Aching Feet
Blame your shoes if you have aching feet. That pain isn’t always caused by high heels, it can also mean a small fracture in your bone. That fracture can be caused by intense workouts or by osteoporosis.
White, Blue and Red Toes
Raynaud’s disease can make your toes turn white, then blue, then red and then return to their natural color. This disease is caused by narrowing of the arteries, and the narrowing is mainly caused by stress or temperature changes.
Heel Pain
Plantar Fasciitis is an inflammation when a long ligament attaches to the heel bone is the most common cause of heel pain. Other things that can cause heel pain are: arthritis, intense exercises and poorly fitting shoes.
Foot Dragging
If you notice a slight foot dragging when you walk, then you might be facing a peripheral nerve damage. That king of nerve damage can also be caused by vitamin deficiency, alcoholism and infections.
Clubbing Nails
If your nails get round at the top and curve downwards, you might be having clubbing nails. Clubbing nails can be caused by liver and heart disease, lung disease or certain infections. Sometimes clubbing nails run in the family and it isn’t caused by anything but genes.
Swollen Feet
Having swollen feet is something temporary, cause by long flights or standing too long. If your feet stay swollen, that can be a sign of poor circulation, a blood clot, a problem with the lymphatic system or a kidney disorder. See a doctor if your feet are constantly swollen.
Burning Feet
A burning feeling in your feet can be caused by diabetes, vitamin B deficiency, kidney disease or poor circulation in your feet.
Foot Sores
Foot sores that don’t heal are a sign of diabetes. Diabetes can cause bad circulation and it stops your wounds from healing. These kinds of sores are also very prone to infections. Slow healing sores can be also caused by peripheral artery disease and poor circulation.
Other Signs of Feet Illness
Gout causes a sudden pain in the big toe joint, redness and swelling. Osteoarthritis can also cause swelling and pain. Turf toe is something mainly athletes have, especially the ones that play on hard surfaces. Turf toe is caused by injury of the ligaments around the joints. Pain in the smaller toes maybe is sign of Morton’s neuroma, which cause thickening of tissue around a nerve. An unexpected, sharp pain in the foot is the sign of a muscle spasm or cramp, which can last few minutes.
Read more: How to Cure Sore Feet From Running