Lost feeling in toe

[Amanda manning]

Hi I'm just curious. I have been walking for a few weeks now and have lost feeling in my big toe.
I have been to the doctor and he suggested not carrying my pack anymore.

I have spoken to other people and it seems its more common than i thought

Has anyone else had this and did the feeling come back after the camino?

 

[FLEUR]

Get your pack carried and relieve the pressure on your feet.

 

[RENSHAW]

There was a time towards the end when I lost feeling in both front pads of my feet and toes - I was worried that I was causing permanent damage but a few weeks after the camino all returned to normal.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

I really fail to see how not carrying an extra 8kg or so will make a difference. What an odd suggestion feom the doctor. Will you not still be putting 10 times that weight on your feet.... If it works, let us know please.

 

[mylifeonvacation]

I had a numb right big toe and it lasted for a month or two (maybe more like 6 weeks?) after my first camino, but it did come back. For me a mild annoyance, nothing permanent.

 

[Amanda manning]

I really fail to see how not carrying an extra 8kg or so will make a difference. What an odd suggestion feom the doctor. Will you not still be putting 10 times that weight on your feet.... If it works, let us know please.

 

[Amanda manning]

We had a language barrier. I don't speak any spanish and he spoke very little english . So not sure how much he understood of what i was trying to say

 

[C clearly]

Hi I'm just curious. I have been walking for a few weeks now and have lost feeling in my big toe. I have been to the doctor and he suggested not carrying my pack anymore.

So you are on the camino now? How much feeling have you lost? Does you foot bump into the front of your shoe when you walk downhill? Can you lace them differently to protect your toe? Have you tried different shoes? Have you tried resting for a day or two?
I don't think it is a good idea to just continue walking. In fact, I think it is a very bad idea! If some of my suggestions (above) don't work, you should go to an English-speaking doctor, and get a proper consultation.

 

[Purky]

Maybe slightly related: during my camino last year the front of both my thighs turned numb. It felt a bit like the anaesthesia at the dentist. I couldn't figure out what was causing this, until I met a hopitalera in France who had been a physiotherapist.
She immediately asked me how I carried my pack. Sure enough, I carried it wrong. I wore the hipbelt around my hips (snugly strapped), instead of letting it rest on my hips. Subtle difference, but an important one.
Back home I consulted another physiotherapist who told me the first one had been spot on with her diagnosis. Because I wore the hipbelt around my hips, I thereby 'locked' my hipbones and because of that pinched a nerve in the groin area, resulting in a loss of feeling in my thighs.
It has been more than a year ago, and the feeling still hasn't completely returned, although there is some improvement.
Moral of the story: get it checked out properly before you do yourself harm.

 

[KinkyOne]

Maybe slightly related: during my camino last year the front of both my thighs turned numb. It felt a bit like the anaesthesia at the dentist. I couldn't figure out what was causing this, until I met a hopitalera in France who had been a physiotherapist.
She immediately asked me how I carried my pack. Sure enough, I carried it wrong. I wore the hipbelt around my hips (snugly strapped), instead of letting it rest on my hips. Subtle difference, but an important one.
Back home I consulted another physiotherapist who told me the first one had been spot on with her diagnosis. Because I wore the hipbelt around my hips, I thereby 'locked' my hipbones and because of that pinched a nerve in the groin area, resulting in a loss of feeling in my thighs.
It has been more than a year ago, and the feeling still hasn't completely returned, although there is some improvement.
Moral of the story: get it checked out properly before you do yourself harm.

Good advice!

 

[hel&scott]

My first thoughts are change your shoes, your feet can swell and change in the Camino so what may have started of fine may now be causing you problems. The fit and way you carry your pack also affects your balance and everything translates down to your feet as the point of contant contact with the hard road.

My second thoughts were of my daughter on her first Camino asking me when does it stop hurting, my response was that it never stops, you just stop caring. That said your body is trying to tell you something, listen to it and sort it out.

 

[HedaP]

Can't hurt to get your pack sent on but I too would be looking at shoes. The nerve to your big toe runs done the top of your foot. Hoping it resolves itself soon.

 

[SYates]

You need to find out the reason of that loss of sensation and than get rid of the reason.
BC SY

 

[Kanga]

During my first camino, when I was severely overweight, I lost feeling in both sets of toes - and did not get it back for many months after I finished. It has not happened since. I wonder if it might be a precursor to diabetes. I was definitely insulin resistant at the time. Many years later and much, much fitter; the Camino is a life saver in many ways.

 

[Stivandrer]

I ensure that my footwear has square toeboxed as my big toe(s) demand room.
As I am also having othotic insoles demand that there are pads behing my treverse arches of the font part of my feet to support te sunken arches. These pads have at some instanced resulted in some toes "sleeping".
In these instances I have resorted to newer and better insoles.

 

[Saint Mike II]

Hola @Amanda manning, I can totally relate to your issue. In fact, like Kanga, I had severe numbness (mine was in the little toe) and it was eventually diagnosed as a related to a nerve injury. Two pieces of advice offered above - reduce the weight you are carrying; & find a doctor who has a reasonable command of English. I abandoned my camino (I was on a very isolated section of the VDLP) and was fortunate to find a doctor with both English and an understanding of what the camino walk entailed.

Without knowing exactly when the numbness developed; the relationship between your feet and the front of your boots/walking shoes it is difficult to provide specific advice and seeing as how you are reporting it has having developed after a few weeks it could be a number of factors - for example two or three 28-30km days in a row.

When you see a doctor and she/he advises more than a few days rest; or in fact retiring from this current camino don't be too upset - the Camino has been here for a thousand years and will still be here in two or three more years when you come back. Oh and you can resume from wherever you stop walking. Cheers & Buen Camino.

 

[DougWilliams55]

Thank you everyone for thoughts and suggestions., all helpful! Two months after finishing the Camino, I still have numbness in and around the pad of my right foot. Treatment to date is based on advice from a sports medicine specialist following a running injury two years ago: RICE ... = Rest (I have not been walking long distances since my return!), Ice (well, I have avoided exertion in hot weather, and this wet cold summer in Ottawa has helped), Compression (have not tried anything related to this yet), and Elevation (when sitting and reading, I raise my feet). It helps, but progress still seems slow.

 

[egar]

Can't hurt to get your pack sent on but I too would be looking at shoes. The nerve to your big toe runs done the top of your foot. Hoping it resolves itself soon.

I too have the same problem with one of my pairs of hiking shoes. It is related to pressure on the top of my foot, right where the tendon comes down from my ankle towards the big toe. I can eliminate most of the numbness by lacing my shoes differently to avoid that pressure. Another good alternative for me is elastic laces, they give a bit when you flex your foot and that's enough to avoid numbness.