Alcoholic neuropathy is just one way alcohol affects your feet. Swelling, numbness and a heavy feeling are also some lower limb side effects.

Imbibing alcohol doesn’t just impair your judgment, but wine, beer, and cocktails, also have quite an impact on your feet and legs. Here are some of the ways your feet and lower limbs are affected .

Heavy Limbs Sensation

Consuming alcoholic beverages can cause muscle weakness, tingling, numbness and a heavy feeling, because it depletes the body of vitamins and minerals, essential for muscle health. While temporary initially, over time, heavy drinking can lead to permanent muscle degeneration, leaving the legs/arms weak and painful.

Other effects include  sexual dysfunction, impotence, impaired speech, difficulty swallowing, heat intolerance, vomiting, nausea, and dizziness or light headedness.

Foot and Leg Swelling

Lower limb swelling or edema is another problem that can develop.When you ingest alcohol, your kidneys filtering abilities are affected, as is the way the organs handle electrolytes like potassium and sodium. This leads to an increase of water in your body, after a bout of drinking, that can present as swollen feet and hands.

Alcohol and Gout

Gout is a type of arthritis that affects the big toe, causing excruciating pain, redness and swelling. It occurs when elevated amounts of uric acid in the blood are deposited in the joints, as tiny, sharp crystals. Alcohol consumption (as well as meat and seafood consumption), are strongly associated with the development of this condition. It’s why gout is sometimes called “the disease of kings” and “rich man’s disease.”

Alcohol can cause Osteoporosis

People who drink excessively in their 20s, have a much higher risk later in life, of developing the bone thinning disease called osteoporosis. And since 25% of the bones in your body are in your feet, it’s a disease that definitely affects foot and toe health.

Heavy Drinking and Dry, Scaly Feet

Psoriasis is a skin condition that leads to red, scaly patches of skin all over your body. When psoriasis affects a person’s feet, simple things like walking can become extremely uncomfortable. The condition can also cause unsightly pits in the toenails. Meanwhile, drinking dehydrates your entire body, leading to heel fissures, as well as flaky, cracked foot skin.

Heavy Drinking Can Cause Alcoholic Neuropathy (Alcohol Leg)

Alcoholic neuropathy, or Alcohol Leg, is a neurological disorder in which many of the peripheral nerves throughout the body are damaged by alcohol use, and they malfunction. Common symptoms include pain, tingling, numbness weakness and burning in the legs and feet. Some people also experience muscle spasms, diarrhoea, incontinence, impaired speech, impotence and sexual dysfunction.

 But there’s  good news too; alcohol isn’t entirely bad for your feet. Studies have proven that a glass of red wine mid-flight, can help prevent DVT blood clots from forming during air travel.

Diagnosing Alcoholic Neuropathy

Your doctor will need to examine you to diagnose this condition. It’s important to share any history of alcohol use with your doctor, to get an accurate diagnosis. Your doctor will need to rule out other potential causes for your symptoms.

Tests, which may identify these causes include:

• nerve biopsy
• nerve conduction tests
• upper GI and small bowel series
• neurological examination
• kidney, thyroid, and liver function tests
• complete blood count (CBC)

 Treatment

The most important thing you can do to treat this condition is to stop drinking. Treatment may first focus on problems with alcohol use. For some people, this may require rehab. Others may be able to stop drinking with outpatient therapy, or social support.

Once alcohol use has been addressed, your doctor can focus on the neuropathy itself. Symptom management is important. Nerve damage can also make it difficult for you to carry out your daily life functions, and may even make injuries more likely.

Each  person’s needs are different. Treatment therefore may involve one, or many, different types of care including:

• vitamin supplements to improve nerve health
• prescription pain relievers (tricyclic antidepressants and anticonvulsants)
• physical therapy to help with muscle atrophy
• safety gear, such as stabilizing footwear, to prevent injuries.

 

         Your feet mirror your general health . . . cherish them!