What causes peripheral neuropathy?

Nerves carry messages for sensation, movement, and automatic functions such as sweating. When they are injured, you may notice burning, tingling, numbness, unusual sensitivity, weakness, or reduced balance, often beginning in the feet or hands.

Type 2 Diabetes can expose nerves to persistently high blood glucose and related blood-vessel changes. Alcohol Use Disorder may contribute through direct toxic effects and poor nutrition. Vitamin B12 Deficiency can interfere with the maintenance of nerve coverings. Other causes include certain medicines, kidney disease, thyroid problems, infections, inherited disorders, and pressure on a nerve; sometimes no single cause is found.

Arrange a clinical assessment if numbness, tingling, burning, or weakness persists. A clinician may review your medicines, alcohol intake, diet, medical history, and family history, then check reflexes, strength, sensation, and circulation. Blood tests may look for glucose, vitamin B12, thyroid, kidney, or other clues.

Protect areas with reduced sensation: check feet and hands regularly, use well-fitting footwear, test bath water carefully, and avoid heating pads directly on numb skin. Treatment depends on the cause and may include improving glucose control, replacing a confirmed deficiency, addressing alcohol use, or changing a causative medicine with medical supervision.

Seek urgent medical help for sudden weakness or numbness on one side, new trouble speaking, severe difficulty walking, loss of bladder or bowel control, or rapidly worsening symptoms. Contact a clinician promptly for a foot wound you cannot feel, spreading weakness, or symptoms that interfere with walking or daily tasks.

Ask which cause is most plausible, whether glucose and vitamin B12 testing is appropriate, whether any medicine could be contributing, how to protect numb feet, and which changes should trigger urgent review.