Five Health Conditions Your Feet can Indicate

You are only partially right, if you think God gave you feet just to support your body weight, and help you in running, walking or moving about.

Perhaps, you may not be aware of the fact that your feet can be an amazing diagnostic tool, providing clues to potential health problems you might face sooner than later.

Why should you rush to the doctor only when an affliction has firmly set in? Why don’t you give a little attention to the tell-tale signals of your feet, warning you of a few serious health issues?

Discussed below for your benefit are five health conditions that can be predicted on the basis of warning signals of your feet.

Dry and flaky foot

Dry, flaky or cracked skin around your heel or on the ball of your foot might indicate a thyroid condition.

Malfunctioning of the thyroid gland can lead to serious problems like high blood pressure, rising metabolic rate, harmful tissue growth, and disorder of the nervous system too.

You need to consult a doctor if your foot skin becomes dry, accompanied by weight gain, vision problems or numbness of hands.

Bald toes

If your toes start losing hair and turn completely bald, poor blood flow might be the cause. This may indicate Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD); if left untreated, it can cause sudden stroke or heart attack.

PAD can be effectively combated by giving up smoking, controlling diet, doing regular exercise and managing diabetes or hypertension.

Benumbed foot

Foot numbness again may indicate Peripheral Arterial Disease or Peripheral Neuropathy (malfunction of damaged nerves).

It is very important that you seek prompt medical advice if you experience: frequent numbness of feet in spite of staying active; wounds on your feet which don’t heal easily.

Regular exercise and healthy diet are recommended to normalize blood flow to your feet.

Black Spots under toenails

Black spots or lines under toenails can happen due to fungal infection. In severe cases, this may indicate melanoma, a kind of skin cancer. This condition is due to genetic mutation of a type of skin cell called Melanocyte.

Hidden melanomas often remain undiagnosed and untreated; this is not at all desirable. Do consult an expert podiatrist, if you experience toenail discoloration every time you cut nails.

Foot pain in the morning

You may experience shooting foot pain in the morning when you take the first few steps after getting up from bed; it can indicate a health condition such as rheumatoid arthritis, plantar fasciitis or muscle cramp.

You need to consult a foot care expert in case you suspect having rheumatoid arthritis symptoms; the podiatrist will suggest necessary medication and suitable exercise.

Appropriate stretching exercises can provide gradual relief from pain caused by undue pressure on plantar fasciitis, a thin web-like shock absorbing ligament in your foot.

The same holds true for muscle cramps as well; you need to switch to a balanced diet and increased water intake to treat the problem.

The warning signals of your foot described above may not always point to serious health ailments, of course! However, you should not risk ignoring any of these signs. Do consult a foot specialist to ascertain whether these symptoms contain a warning or not!