Is this peripheral neuropathy?
 

This is my first post on this site.

I am a male 65 years old. I have always been extremely healthy. I don't have any medication, never been in a surgery. During my over 40 years in work I was only a couple of days sick. I don't have diabetes, kidneys are ok, liver is ok, thyroid is ok, all standard blood tests are ok, no infections. I am on pension but I work still a few days in a week as an IT specialist. I am in a very good condition and walk a lot every day.

One month ago I was shopping with my wife and we were 5-6 hours on foot. I had bad shoes and got problems to the bottom of my feet. Palms of the feet became numb and there were pain between toes and also in the middle of feet. I went to physiotherapist who is specialiced on feet and he said that I have a lot of problems. I bought special wide shoes and did some exercise like rolling tennis ball under my fee and did some other exercises.

After about two weeks when the situation did not improve I went to a orthopedist. The doctor checked my legs. Blood pressure was ok, reflexes ok, I could do everything that he asked like walk on my toes etc. Finally he did a test with a tuning fork. To my surprise I did not feel the trembling on two places on my legs at all or it was very low.

To my surprise the doctor did not examine the bottom of my feet at all. He seemed busy and wrote the diagnose. He said that I have polyneuropathy which is probably the same as peripheral neuropathy. He also said that I must go to ENMG test. I will go there in mid December as all the ENMG services are very booked.

During last few days all my time has gone to go through Internet pages about neuropathy and I am terrified. I don't sleep well.

Considering my overall health and history it is very hard for me to accept that I have neuropathy. A lot of questions goes through my head. If the patient fails the tuning fork test, does that automatically mean that the reason is peripheral neuropathy?

I would appreciate any kind of comments.

Welcome Max1956. :Wave-Hello: Someone will be along.

A few more comments & corrections:
With "palm of feet" I mean ball of feet

My B12 levels are ok. I don't smoke. My alcohol consumption is almost zero. I am not overweight. I don't eat red meat. I am 80% vegetarian.

Hi Max

Sorry to hear you are going down this road.
I am of a similar age & mine started of in a similar manor to yours.
Your nerve conduction test will tell you how far it has progressed.
Your only hope of a cure, is if the cause can be found & treated.
No cause was found for mine, so I have had to get used to living with it.

Hi numbfoot

Thank you for your comment.

The orthopedist did the sound fork test only on one foot and did not explain anything before the test. The "test" lasted about 15-20 seconds and after that he gave me his diagnose "You've got peripherial neuropathy":.

It seems that the sound fork used was 128 Hz tool. I just happen to have a 440 Hz sound fork at home. It is for guitar tuning. I made the same test with my own fork and I do feel the trembling everywhere on my feet. 400 Hz is higher that 128. I don't know if my own test any value. 128 Hz sound forks are quite cheap. Maybe I should be one. That might also bring me more stress.

Max, I see you are coming here from Finland. On your issues and telling us of your excellent health, I can only suggest a few things I've used and stgill do...The neuropathy I manage is from a hip replacement 11 yrs and nerve damage.

I rub my feet every night with Topricin for Feet and also some Ultra Tiger Balm and wear socks all day. Internally I have had great success withj Inosine and Sphingolin and overall good health due to taking Grape Seed Extract for decades. If these are available in Finland I don't know .

Do your feet burn/tingle?

Hi Caroline
Thank you for your comments.

Topricin - It seems that it is not available ion my country. Of course I can order it from somewhere.
Ultra Tiger Balm - I know this one and it is available in pharmacies.
Inosine - It is available here.
Sphingolin - Not available here.
Grape Seed Extract - I'll keep this in mind

Do your feet burn/tingle? - I don't feel burn very much. Only occasionally and it is not very painful. Same with tingle. The ball of my both feet are quite numb. Left foot more than right. I am puzzled that I might have something called metatarsalgia. There are quite sore places between my toes and the ball of my feet seem to be little bloated. I might still have neuropathy beside all this. There are over 2 weeks before I go to the ENMG test. I will meet a foot specialist before that.

Hang in there.
Still early days for you.
Might pay to hold back on the remedies until you have a diagnosis.

I get sore foot areas in hot weather when my feet swell or if shoes are too tight or don't fit well. My foot pain does fade away..
It may take a few months if due to poor shoes...but with good fitting shoes plus good shoe inserts , it's worth a try..

A skilled chiropractor may be worth a try to see it they can do some adjustments that will help... or acupuncture..

Hi Max,
Can you really diagnose polyneuropathy with a tuning fork? Why is a practitioner using a tuning fork in 2021? How sensitive and reliable and reproducible are those tests? You have no base line data to work with. What was your sensitivity like 10 years ago for example?

I have several of those symptoms you describe form time to time and they are not the end of the world. I barely notice them.
Peripheral nerves are able to heal themselves so adopt the optimum lifestyle for nerve health if you are worried by Peripheral Neuropathy. Diet, supplements, exercise, meditation, gratitude practises, for example.

Best wishes,

Atty