I suffer from numbness in legs when standing. What's wrong with me?

I suffer from numbness in legs when standing. What's wrong with me?

Q: I have been an active badminton player for 30 years. Since my retirement, I have been playing badminton once a week and jogging every morning.

A year ago, I began to experience numbness in my feet after dinner. The numbness has been getting worse. I now suffer from numbness in my feet after lunch and dinner.

Every day, I will sit at my desk to do some work. The numbness begins to affect my feet as soon as I walk to a nearby place for lunch.

Nowadays, the numbness even spreads to my legs and buttocks. It is worse when I carry something heavy, such as a large packet of rice from the supermarket.

The only way I can ease the numbness is to sit down or massage my feet with a reflexology machine.

In short, numbness in my feet would occur whenever I am standing up or when my legs are carrying my whole body weight.

The only medication I am taking now is for high blood pressure.

A: I am happy to see that you have a very active lifestyle, but am sorry to hear about your numbness.

It appears that your numbness began in the feet but has, over the year, begun to affect the legs and buttocks.

It is intermittent and brought on by prolonged sitting or by the carrying of heavy loads.

There are a number of causes for numbness.

If it is persistent and largely in the feet and legs on both sides, it may be due to a nerve problem called peripheral neuropathy. The sensory nerves in the feet are damaged over time, leading to a loss in sensation.

The most common cause of peripheral neuropathy is longstanding diabetes mellitus.

If the numbness comes and goes, affects the feet and legs and is brought on by certain postures or physical activity, we need to consider that something is pressing on the nerves in the spine. This could be a slipped disc, or bony protrusions from spondylosis (fusion of bones) which occurs with ageing of the spine bones.

Trauma may be a contributing factor. There may be associated backache or back pain that radiates down one leg or the other.

If the nerve compression is severe, there may also be weakness of the legs or loss of control of bladder and bowel movements.

I would recommend that you see your family doctor for a detailed history taking and physical and neurological examination.

You may need a referral to a specialist for further assessment.

Dr NV Ramani
Consultant neurologist at the Raffles Internal Medicine Centre at Raffles Hospital


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