In most cases, we go to doctors only when the situation becomes serious or a sick leave is required. For some minor reasons, you don’t want to take time off from work, and there’s no time, especially if it doesn’t hurt, but just your toe itches. However, time passes, the itching becomes unbearable, and you have to look for the reasons.
What's happening? Why might my toes itch? Can I do it on my own, or will I have to make an appointment with a doctor? Let's try to figure it out.
The most common causes of itchy toes
The right palm itches for money, and the legs itch for a long journey. Whether this route will be profitable depends on which leg itches - the left or the right. If everything were that simple, there would be no problems. Unfortunately, itching on the feet, and especially between the toes, indicates the presence of problems that are in no way related to signs.
What does the body signal if all or at least one toe itches? Here is a short list of probable causes of this unpleasant itch:
- fungal diseases;
- scabies mite;
- allergy;
- neurological reaction;
- consequences of injury.
It is also worth noting that itching is a debilitating phenomenon that spoils the mood, increases nervousness, and interferes with concentration. Before treatment, it is worth finding out the diagnosis, and for this it is advisable to first consult a dermatologist. It is this specialist who will check you on the first three points from the list.
Interpretation of signs by day of the week
The meaning of the sign changes on different days of the week. Therefore, trying to decipher this sign of fate, you need to remember what day of the week and correlate it with the meaning:
- On Monday, the omen promises many interesting meetings and new acquaintances.
- On Tuesday - usually nothing interesting or important, but if on this day two or more fingers itch at once, then you need to wait for an interesting offer that will significantly affect your financial situation.
- Wednesday is a very unpleasant sign; it promises a family scandal or a showdown with relatives over property.
- On Thursday, a woman may receive a marriage proposal, and a young man will probably meet his soulmate.
- On Friday - perhaps old friends or distant relatives with whom contact has long been lost will arrive, otherwise you yourself will have to go on a long trip.
- On Saturday - new troubles will appear, many small worries.
- On Sunday - you can expect the weather to change for the worse.
Between Tuesday and Friday, omens are more likely to come true.
They say that you can predict your health status by signs. For example, if you itch on Saturday, then the sign promises relief from a long illness, and on Sunday, on the contrary, the opportunity to get a new disease.
Fungal diseases
If you feel itching and burning on your feet, toes, and especially between your toes, the skin seems reddened, and your nails begin to look somehow unhealthy, then it is most likely a fungal disease. It’s very easy to catch the disease - just wear someone else’s slippers when visiting, or walk without a change of shoes in the shower at the gym or swimming pool. Wherever an infected person has theoretically set foot, you can add uninvited “tenants”. And now my toes are itching. It is necessary to treat, as mycoses do not go away on their own!
A dermatologist will make a diagnosis and prescribe treatment. Antifungal drugs are usually prescribed in an easy-to-apply form: spray or cream. In addition, when treating persistent mycoses, tablets are prescribed, which must be taken simultaneously with local treatment.
Eliminating symptoms
Tell your healthcare provider as soon as you develop symptoms. Be sure to tell your doctor if you have diabetes, vascular disease, or peripheral neuropathy. These diseases cause destruction of the skin, prevent wound healing and can cause infection.
Follow the tips below to help you manage these symptoms.
It is forbidden:
- Pop blisters. Apply a petroleum-based ointment, such as Vaseline®, and cover it with a bandage (Band-Aid®).
- Immerse your hands and feet in hot water or a hot bath.
- Take hot baths.
- Wearing socks, tights or shoes that are too tight.
- Doing anything that requires rubbing your palms or soles, other than lightly applying lotion or cream.
Need to:
- Wear thick, soft cotton socks with all shoes. We also recommend using wicking foam insoles and shock-absorbing inserts to ease the pressure of shoes on your feet.
- Wear heavy cotton gloves when doing chores around the house or outside the home, such as cleaning the house, gardening, or grocery shopping.
- Keep your hands and feet well moisturized. To do this, soak them in cool water for 20 to 30 minutes, pat them dry with a towel, and then apply a fragrance-free moisturizer such as Eucerin®. This should be done at least once a day.
- Use unscented lotion or cream containing petroleum products, for example: Urea cream;
- Kerasal® One Step Exfoliating Foot Moisturizer Therapy™;
- Udderly Smooth®;
- if you are over 18 years of age, you can also use the tools below; do not use these if you are under 18 years of age: salicylic acid;
- moisturizer CeraVe® SA.
- steroids;
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Scabies mite infection
At first glance, the symptoms of scabies mites are similar to a fungal infection: itching, redness of the skin. The tick is so small that the bite sites are not noticeable, and the sensations are really similar. However, when infected with a tick, the toes become very itchy, and then the bite sites begin to become inflamed. In addition, an allergy may develop as a reaction, seriously complicating the situation.
Infection with scabies mites occurs in the same way as with a fungal infection - as a result of contact with surfaces contaminated by another person. For diagnosis, the doctor will take a skin scraping, but in most cases the diagnosis is made based on indirect signs. Properly prescribed treatment helps literally within a few days.
What to do if your toe itches
Itching, of course, is an extremely unpleasant phenomenon. Therefore, you need to know what to do if this feeling arises.
If severe itching occurs, the ring will help
It has long been believed that jewelry will help get rid of itching. You need to put a gold ring on your finger. Of course, this is not always convenient to do, but you should fix it, or, as a last resort, put on a sock and walk like this for 24 hours.
By the way, it is believed that this method will help prevent the negative events that the sign indicated.
Allergy
An allergic reaction can begin as an aggravating circumstance with mycosis, tick infection, or manifest itself in response to the presence of external allergens. Anything can provoke a reaction - new shoes, synthetic socks, poorly rinsed washing powder.
An allergic reaction may appear as hives, where redness and blisters on the toes become itchy and itchy. However, this condition can easily develop into eczema, which results in oozing red areas between the toes. Antihistamines can help alleviate the situation, but the best option is to eliminate the source of the allergy. To do this, you can contact an allergist or try to eliminate the source by elimination: change the washing powder, switch to cotton socks.
Morton's neuroma
Morton's disease is a disorder of the plantar nerve sheath in which it thickens. The pathology causes pain, especially if patients wear narrow shoes. Usually the neuroma affects the second or middle fingers, rarely the first and fourth. Neoplasms of the nerve are quite common - these pathologies are dealt with by traumatologists or neurologists. Fortunately, neuroma does not degenerate into cancer.
Doctors see the cause of the appearance of a neuroma near the toe in excessive stress on the forefoot. Neuroma is usually provoked by walking in high heels, excess body weight, and even improper gait. Morton's disease often accompanies athletes involved in professional sports with heavy load on the foot; their feet hurt, and neuroma appears quite often.
REFERENCE! Among the diseases that precede neuroma are flat feet, microtraumas, bursitis or tendovaginitis, and atherosclerosis.
Typical signs of Morton's neuroma are pain in the third and fourth toes with shooting. The fingers may become swollen, accompanied by a sensation of a foreign body. As the disease progresses, the pain worsens and becomes constant, accompanied by paresthesia of the fingers.
If the leg is swollen and there is a suspicion of a neuroma, the diagnosis can only be made using magnetic resonance imaging; CT and x-rays will be uninformative. The best diagnostic method is ultrasound - it is cheaper and gives excellent diagnostic results.
When treating the disease conservatively, it is recommended to change the insoles in your shoes and spare your feet. Patients are recommended to take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; injections of anesthetics will help relieve pain. If the finger is swollen, NSAIDs are applied topically in the form of ointments or compresses. Physiotherapeutic measures are actively included in the treatment regimen. If conservative therapy does not bring results, surgical treatment is used to dissect the intermetatarsal ligament.
Neurological itching
If a dermatologist has ruled out all three causes listed above, the root of the problem may lie in neurology. For example, if for no apparent reason it is not the whole foot that is itching, but the big toe on the right foot is itching, and only that one. If there was no damage, the cause may be a neurological reaction caused by uncomfortable shoes, hypothermia, or the initial stage of arthritis.
If one single toe is itchy and itchy, and you are convinced that none of the above problems have anything to do with you, perhaps you should go to a traumatologist, because neurological reactions can also be a consequence of injury.
Arthritis
If the foot is swollen and you can’t even put on your shoes properly, and your legs burn and hurt, then this may be a manifestation of arthritis. The inflammatory process in foot arthritis begins around the joints, but can spread to soft tissues, causing widespread inflammation. If you identify the symptoms of arthritis at an early stage and find out why the inflammation appeared, then the disease is much easier to cure.
The following symptoms are observed with arthritis of the toe:
- the appearance of pain in the limbs, which worsens at night and torments patients with insomnia;
- redness of the skin of the foot;
- stiffness in the legs;
- local hyperthermia;
- deterioration of general health;
- the occurrence of heavy leg syndrome.
Some patients note that their finger turns blue due to arthritis, while others note constant redness and swelling of the finger.
With the development of arthritis in patients, the pathology can be complicated by osteoarthritis - in this case, the inflammatory process affects not only the joint, but also the bone. During this process, the cartilage tissue is actively destroyed, pits appear on its surface, the cartilage becomes thinner and the bone surface is visible. During the process of aggressive destruction, the articular surfaces try to protect themselves and osteophytes appear. If arthritis is caused by a buildup of uric acid in the toe joints, it causes gout.
If arthritis is caused by autoimmune causes, systemic rheumatoid arthritis develops. This disease affects not only the toes, but also the hands and other small and large joints.
Arthritis of the toes can be provoked not only by autoimmune processes, but also by quite banal stress on the feet, poor nutrition, and hematogenous infection due to diseases such as tonsillitis and influenza. Sometimes arthritis occurs even if a person has rubbed his toes, but the pathology has spread inside. The cause of arthritis of the toes can also be an old injury, a complication after a blow.
In order to treat arthritis, patients are prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and chondroprotectors. NSAIDs are recommended both internally and externally in the form of ointments or creams. You can use compresses, but only with the permission of a doctor. For example, a compress with dimexide, hydrocortisone and novocaine works well to relieve swelling of the toes. Treatment of the disease should be under the supervision of a doctor.
Consequences of injury
Not all injuries are distinguished by a pronounced pain syndrome; sometimes the pain seems to be disguised as a banal itch. If you see that your red toe is itching, then you can assume a microtrauma such as an insect bite, an injection from a poisonous plant, or a banal splinter. Localized redness and swelling make it difficult to see the site of the injection or bite, and not every person is able to bring the foot so close to the face to properly examine the problem.
Rubbing, corns, and an ingrown corner of the nail may not hurt, but the toe itches and seems to ache, and upon examination there are no bruises or bright redness. Perhaps the inflammation is somewhat diffuse in nature, and the entire foot turns slightly red. You definitely need to see a doctor. Finally, a healing fracture or microcrack can also itch. There is no point in allowing such damage to occur, as the situation can unnoticeably worsen.
If everything is fine, but the itching does not go away
Have you visited the doctors, made sure that everything is in order, but the discomfort still torments you? This also happens. Why do my toes itch and how to get rid of it?
It is possible that this is a reaction to sweat. Warm baths with a decoction of oak bark bring relief. Tannins help reduce sweating, the unpleasant smell of sweat disappears, and itching is relieved. Oatmeal baths work well - a couple of tablespoons of oatmeal should be ground in a coffee grinder, brewed with boiling water and diluted with warm water at a comfortable temperature. Oatmeal coats the skin with a thin layer of delicate powder and soothes almost any skin inflammation.
It is possible that itching is a secondary symptom of nervous tension. Observe yourself; such sensations, as a rule, have a wandering character. Today only your elbow itches, tomorrow your toes, and the day after tomorrow your knee may itch. Herbal tea made from soothing herbs and, if possible, eliminating irritating factors sometimes work real miracles.
The complex beneficial effects of sea salt for foot baths have already been noted by numerous specialists. If you have the opportunity to go to the sea, great. Micromassage also has an additional healing effect if you walk barefoot on sand and small pebbles in the surf. If this is not possible, you can simply buy sea salt, preferably without flavors and dyes, dilute it in warm water and make a foot bath. Be attentive to yourself, the body simply won’t signal, and everything has its own reason.
When should you contact your healthcare provider?
Call your healthcare provider if you experience any of the following:
- temperature rises to 100.4°F (38°C) or higher;
- chills;
- symptoms do not go away or get worse;
- any of the following symptoms appear on the skin of your palms or soles: skin that is hard, warm, or hot to the touch;
- bright yellow or green discharge;
- bleeding;
- unpleasant odor from the palms and feet;
- increasing redness or swelling;
- increasing pain or discomfort;
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