A member asked:

I have had blue toes for going on 4 months i do not have diabetes. i have been to 4 doctors and they do not seemed concerned i have had pheripheral neuropathy in rght and left toes for 3 months.now, it is only in my right toes and they are just sensitive

2 doctors weighed in across 2 answers
Dr. Heidi Fowler answered

Specializes in Psychiatry

You : You may wish to consider an evaluation and treatment by a medical acupuncturist (a md or do). Acupuncture can often be used to move stagnant blood, lymph and energy and can be helpful for neuropathy.

Answered 10/3/2016

5.3k views

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Dr. Howard Fox answered

Specializes in Podiatry

There : There are things i'd want to know before venturing into an answer for you. Male or female? Age? Smoker? Any similar symptoms in your hands? But without knowing these important things, i'll say this: neuropathy usually comes from a problem with a nerve, and blue dusky toes usually comes from a problem with blood supply. But there are vascular origins for numbness and tingling such as aso, immersion foot / frostbite and the probably the most common, raynaud's disease. The nerve test you probably had was an EMG and ncv, and they are not 100% reliable in diagnosing the cause for a nerve problem. They're helpful, but they're not the be-all and end-all test to find out a cause for neuropathy. I'm not sure what vascular tests you've had, but i'm guessing some sort of doppler test where blood pressure cuffs are placed at various locations on your legs. Such a test would best reveal an arterial blockage or venous congestion. If the nature of your problem is one of vasospasm (as in raynaud's) where the arteries are in spasm, unless they were in spasm at the time of the test, the vascular test you had probably would be normal. Another thought, albeit rare, is you're throwing micro-emboli down an artery in your leg or legs from an aortic aneurism. Sometimes (and again, this is pretty rare), i'll see a patient that suddenly gets a cold blue toe or two, and it's the result of an aneurism in the aorta that's breaking off tiny little blood clots that do nothing until the arteries get really small, like in a toe, and they tend to occlude the blood supply, turning the toe dusky blue, cold and either painful or numb. A chest and abdominal x-ray would probably show an aneurism. But i don't want to worry you unnecessarily, and must repeat 1) this is rare, and 2) some key questions are missing to make this answer more meaningful. But i hope this has given you and your doctors some ideas to work with. I wish you well.

Answered 10/3/2016

5.3k views

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