Numb toes

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Kittenheels Kath Jan 2018 11:41am, 19 Jan 2018 3,193 posts	0 Kittenheels Kath Hello good people of Fetchland. I have numb toes on my left foot, and because I'm the suggestible type, I think this is also affecting the rest of my foot too, and possibly my lower left leg. Could it be connected to a niggle in my lower back? Not sure if the niggle is muscular, skeletal or nervy, it just twinges frequently. I'm not running much at the moment (time pressures at work, which I feel guilty for not doing anything about), and do far too much sitting, but I do walk plenty of stairs, when I get up from my chair. Any ideas as to what could be causing this, and whether it's easily fixable? Thanks in advance for any help you're able to give.
HappyG(rrr) Jan 2018 12:48pm, 19 Jan 2018 28,119 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) OK, two things, no idea if they are related to your condition Kath. 1. lower back prob last year (slipped disc) and resultant trapped nerve gave me numb feeling (skin insensitive to touch, could feel ground properly etc.) toes, foot, ankle and calf. 2. Lots of running, esp ultra running, rough terrain and downhill running, resulted in definite front of foot numbness. Hope you find your cause. If it's the nerve in the back thing, takes up to 6-12 months to get better. But nerves can heal, they just take time. G
Kittenheels Kath Jan 2018 2:29pm, 19 Jan 2018 3,194 posts	0 Kittenheels Kath Thanks HappyG(rrr). There is hope, then! I don't do ultras, and prefer running uphill to downhill. I had sciatica once, years ago, and that just went away on its own, but was much more painful. This is just annoying, and the twinges in my back make me think that running isn't a good idea at the moment. I'm at home today, working on my PhD, and every hour or so I get up and stretch my back, which reminds me...
Dvorak Jan 2018 7:06pm, 19 Jan 2018 15,220 posts	0 Dvorak Shoes too tight? Or is it all the time? (Not just whilst running?)
Kittenheels Kath Jan 2018 11:08am, 20 Jan 2018 3,196 posts	0 Kittenheels Kath It's all the time, Dvorak, and I think I've ruled out shoes as the culprit, because I wear socks around the house. I don't think it's related to circulation, either, as my left foot isn't colder than my right. I've taken a painkiller today, as I think I might have pulled a muscle stretching, yesterday, so I'm going to hope it goes away on its own. Ho hum. I'll get back to this running lark, soon enough.
Kittenheels Kath Feb 2018 1:42pm, 16 Feb 2018 3,197 posts	0 Kittenheels Kath So I went to the House of Pain a couple of weeks ago, and the physio ruled out a disc problem (yay!); but we established that although I can run a reasonable number of miles, I have the core strength of marshmallow, and am basically suffering from a right old pain in the piriformis. She jabbed her elbow into my hip, and her thumbs of steel into my calf muscles, and gave me some exercises to do, which would be easy were I not made of marshmallow. I am diligently making glute bridges. I also found a spine realignment thingy from The Daily Om (I now get daily messages e-mailed to me about finding my inner clarity) whilst surfing another social-media platform (not nearly so nice a place as Fetch), and have started being talked through some yoga/pilates style exercises by a cool hippy dude, and using a tennis ball as an instrument of torture. Ho hum. I'll be back running soon enough.