What Are Your Feet Telling You?

Noticeable changes in feet could be a tale-tell signs of diseases, says expert.

16:50 23 September 2015

The feet are a window to what’s happening in the bodies, says expert.

 

Podiatrist Jake Heath from One Wellness Clinic in Wimpole Street, London, said: “We neglect our feet and put up with signs and symptoms that, in any other part of the body, would have us running to medical professionals,” 

 

“Yet noticeable changes can be indicators of wider health issues.”

 

He explained: “Gout is a build-up of razor-sharp uric acid crystals in a joint,” explains Jake. “This can be caused by being overweight, certain medications or a high protein diet, but it can also be genetic.” For most people the first sign comes in the form of a sore, red, swollen big toe.

 

Other signs and symptoms are cold feet (which could be hypothyroidism), red ulcers or numbness (could be diabetes), club-shaped nails (could be lung condition), hairless toes (could be vascular disease), thickened, crumbling or discoloured nails (could be Psoriasis), and sore toe joints (could be arthritis).