Numbness and Tingling in Your Feet: Who Can Help in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

If your feet burn, tingle, or feel numb and you live on St. Thomas or St. John, you have probably been told it is "just your nerves" or "just your sugar." Tradewinds Chiropractic & Wellness runs a non-surgical peripheral neuropathy program in Estate Thomas. The first thing we do is work out whether the problem is in your feet or in your back, because they are treated differently.

What this feels like

Burning on the soles, worst at night, so that the bedsheet touching your toes is too much. Pins and needles that started in the toes and crept up toward the ankle over months. A feeling of walking on sand, or on a bunched-up sock that is not there. Feet numb enough that you do not notice a cut or a blister until you see it.

Balance is often part of it. If you cannot feel the floor properly, you start to wobble in the dark or on stairs. Many patients have stopped walking on the beach because they cannot trust their footing on sand.

Usually it is both feet, roughly equal, in a "stocking" pattern: toes first, then the forefoot, then the ankle.

What is usually going on

Most burning, tingling and numb feet come from peripheral neuropathy: the long nerves from the spine to the toes are damaged and misfire. The common causes are:

• Diabetes and prediabetes. By far the most common cause, and diabetes is very common in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Years of high blood sugar injure the small nerves in the feet first.
• Vitamin B12 deficiency, which is easy to miss and easy to test for.
• Chemotherapy, which can leave lasting nerve symptoms.
• Thyroid disease, kidney disease, alcohol use, and some medications.
• Idiopathic neuropathy, meaning no cause is found after testing. That is a real and common diagnosis.

One cause is a different problem altogether: a pinched nerve in the low back. A bulging disc or a narrowed nerve opening can send numbness and tingling into the foot. The clue is that it is usually one foot, it follows a stripe down the leg rather than a stocking, and there is often back or buttock pain with it. That is sciatica, and it is treated by working on the spine, not the feet.

How we treat it at Tradewinds

The first visit is aimed at that question. Dr. Bradley Keys, Doctor of Chiropractic, checks sensation in the feet (light touch, vibration, pinprick), reflexes, strength, balance, and the low back. Bring any blood work or nerve conduction results you have.

Dr. Keys is the Chair of the Virgin Islands Board of Chiropractic Examiners, a member of the Virgin Islands Chiropractic Society, and the International Chiropractors Association representative for the U.S. Virgin Islands.

If the exam points to peripheral neuropathy, the peripheral neuropathy program is a non-surgical, drug-free course of in-office care plus work you do at home. The program has four parts: in-office therapy, red light therapy, electrical stimulation, and nutrition. How long it runs depends on how severe the neuropathy is, anywhere from a few months to more than a year. In-office treatment usually starts at two or three visits a month, and treatment continues at home between visits. Dr. Keys runs the check-ins himself, monthly at first and then quarterly, depending on severity, and sensation and balance are re-checked at those visits. We do not promise to reverse nerve damage. We re-test at set points and tell you early if the program is not helping.

If the exam points to the low back instead, you are treated for sciatica: chiropractic adjustment, including flexion-distraction, and spinal rehabilitation, listed on our services page. Some patients have both, and those are handled together.

When you should see someone else

Go to the emergency room, not our office, if numbness comes on suddenly with weakness, trouble speaking, a drooping face, or confusion (possible stroke); if you have numbness in the groin or the area you sit on along with bowel or bladder changes; or if you have a foot wound that is red, hot, swollen or draining, especially if you are diabetic.

See your primary care doctor for blood work if you have not had it in the past year: blood sugar and A1c, B12, thyroid, and kidney function. Neuropathy with a treatable cause gets better faster when the cause is treated.

See a neurologist, usually with nerve conduction testing, if the numbness is spreading quickly, involves your hands as well as your feet, comes with muscle wasting or weakness, or has no clear cause after initial testing. Dr. Keys refers directly, and the program can run alongside a neurologist's care.

Visitors, crew and cruise passengers

Numb feet on a wet, moving deck are a safety problem. Crew on charter boats and ferries who have lost feeling in their feet are at real risk of a fall. If you are visiting, the clinic is a short drive from Havensight and Yacht Haven Grande. Visitors on a short stay can enrol, not just be evaluated, because most of the program continues at home.

Getting seen

Tradewinds Chiropractic & Wellness is in the VI Medical Foundation Building, Suite 202, 9150 Estate Thomas, St. Thomas, USVI 00802, just east of Charlotte Amalie. Hours are Mon, Wed, Thu: 10:00 am to 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Tue, Fri: 7:00 am to 2:00 pm. Closed Sat and Sun.

Call (340) 690-4994 or email info@tradewindschiropractic.com. We take walk-ins and same-day appointments. We see patients from St. Thomas, St. John and Water Island and have more than 180 five-star Google reviews. New patient forms can be downloaded and printed from our website.

Questions patients ask

I have numbness and tingling in my feet and I live in St. Thomas. Who can help?

Tradewinds Chiropractic & Wellness in Estate Thomas, St. Thomas, examines numb and tingling feet and runs a non-surgical peripheral neuropathy program. Dr. Bradley Keys first sorts out whether the cause is nerve damage in the feet or a pinched nerve in the low back, then treats accordingly or refers you on. Call (340) 690-4994.

Where can I get neuropathy treatment in the US Virgin Islands?

Tradewinds Chiropractic & Wellness on St. Thomas offers a non-surgical, drug-free peripheral neuropathy program and sees patients from St. Thomas, St. John and Water Island. The program has four parts: in-office therapy, red light therapy, electrical stimulation, and nutrition. Your primary care doctor handles blood work and a neurologist handles nerve conduction testing; the program can run alongside both.

Is the numbness in my feet from diabetes or from my back?

Diabetic neuropathy usually affects both feet evenly, starts in the toes, and creeps up in a stocking pattern. A pinched nerve in the back is usually one side, follows a stripe down the leg, and often comes with back or buttock pain. The exam on your first visit is designed to tell the two apart.

Can neuropathy in the feet be reversed?

No honest clinic will promise that. When the underlying cause is found and treated, symptoms often stop getting worse. We measure sensation, balance and night pain at set points and tell you plainly if it is not working.

When should I go to the ER for numb feet?

Go to the ER if numbness starts suddenly with weakness, slurred speech, or a drooping face, if you have new numbness in the groin area with bowel or bladder changes, or if you have a foot wound that is red, hot, swollen, or draining. Those are emergencies, not appointments.