Best Home Remedies for Neuropathy in Feet
Foot Soak, Support Socks, Essential Oils, Supplements, and More
Medically reviewed by Adam H. Kaplan, DPM
If you have pain, burning, numbness, or tingling in your toes, feet, or lower legs, you may have a condition called peripheral neuropathy. This condition is usually chronic and progressive and may be caused by a variety of problems.
Peripheral neuropathy can be managed with a combination of self-care home treatments and medication. A foot soak is one of the best ways to relieve neuropathy pain. Special socks, lotions, and lifestyle changes are also effective.
This article takes a look at the causes of peripheral neuropathy and the various remedies that may help you manage the nerve pain in your feet.
What Causes Nerve Pain in Feet?
There are several different causes of nerve pain in your feet and toes. Some may be avoidable, and others happen without a well-understood reason. Regardless of the cause, you should see your healthcare provider if you have any symptoms of pain, burning, or numbness and tingling in your lower extremities.
Diabetes
Diabetes is a condition in which your body's ability to manage your blood sugar is compromised. This usually occurs as a result of changes in your body's ability to make insulin. Management of diabetes involves frequent monitoring of your blood glucose levels and making adjustments to your diet. Getting injections of insulin or taking oral medications may be needed to keep your blood sugar at an appropriate level.
Long-term and chronic diabetes may cause damage to the nerves in your lower extremities, leading to symptoms of peripheral neuropathy. This is called diabetic peripheral neuropathy.
Small Fiber Neuropathy
Small fiber neuropathy is a condition that affects the tiny nerve endings in your skin. The condition often occurs for no apparent reason, and it causes painful pricks, tingling, and altered sensations in the feet or hands. Typically, the symptoms start in your feet and then progress up your legs.
Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease
Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is a genetic condition that causes nerve damage to the small nerves in your arms and legs. This results in pain, abnormal sensations, and weakness in the muscles that these nerves serve. There is no cure for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. Management involves remaining active and trying home remedies for nerve-related symptoms.
Heavy Alcohol Use
Alcoholic neuropathy occurs when someone consumes excessive amounts of alcohol over a long period of time.
Alcohol consumption alters the absorption of various vitamins and nutrients in the body. Some of these nutrients, like thiamin, folate, and vitamins B6 and B12, are essential for normal nerve conduction to occur. Altering the absorption of these nutrients may cause peripheral neuropathy.
Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome
Tarsal tunnel syndrome occurs when a nerve in your inner ankle and foot becomes pinched. This can occur with adult-acquired flat foot syndrome and causes pain or tingling in your foot and toes. Adult-acquired flat foot syndrome is characterized as feet that become flat over time due to age and/or injury.
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)
Complex regional pain syndrome, formerly called reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), is a mysterious nerve condition that causes pain and abnormal swelling of the limbs. This typically occurs after an injury or surgery to the affected limb.
The pain, redness, and swelling that accompany CRPS are typically much greater than the injury or surgery that initiated it. Treatment involves a multifaceted approach, including physical therapy, pain management, and self-care strategies to manage the pain.
Related: How Do You Know If You Need Physical Therapy?
Chemotherapy
If you have cancer, you may have to go through a course of chemotherapy as treatment. The medication used during chemotherapy may have a deleterious effect on your nerves, and if nerves in your lower extremities or feet become damaged, peripheral neuropathy may develop.
Injuries
Some injuries to the lower extremities or low back may cause damage to the surrounding nerves. While some peripheral nerves are able to slowly heal, occasionally a nerve becomes irreparably damaged, leading to chronic long-term neuropathy.
Injuries affecting the nerves in your legs can include spinal problems like a herniated disk, spinal stenosis, or a lower extremity fracture.
If you have nerve pain in your feet or peripheral neuropathy, follow your healthcare provider's advice to get proper treatment. There are several home remedies that may offer you some relief. Keep in mind that not all treatments work for everyone, so you may have to try a few of them.
Foot Soak
Soaking your feet, either in a specialized foot bath or your bathtub, may provide some much-needed self-care for your feet. Soaks with oils like peppermint or chamomile or Epsom salts have been shown to decrease pain in people with neuropathy.
Beware of Heat
Test the temperature to be sure the water for your foot soak is not so hot that it burns your skin. Because you may lack sensation in your feet, you may not realize how hot the water is when you submerge your feet.
Foot Care
Taking care of your feet is one of the best things you can do if you have nerve pain in your legs and feet. Ensuring the skin, bones, and joints in your feet are healthy can keep your nerves feeling and operating well. Consider trying the following:
Neuropathy socks: These are specialized socks that feature seamless construction, moisture-wicking material, nonbinding elastic, and soft materials. They may help reduce the pain associated with diabetic foot neuropathy.
Check your feet daily: You or a loved one should check the bottom of your feet daily. With neuropathy, you may not be able to feel a callus, wound/ulcer, infection, or foreign body. By taking a quick look once or twice a day, you may prevent hospitalizations, loss of limb/amputations, and more. If you have an issue, immediately seek medical care from a podiatrist or other qualified healthcare provider.
Lifestyle Changes
General health and well-being practices can help improve symptoms of peripheral neuropathy, as well as reduce your stress level.
Get a Good Night's Sleep
Practice good sleep hygiene. If you're not sleeping well, then your body does not have a chance to rest and heal properly from the stresses of the previous day. Sleep hygiene—the process of prepping your body for a good night's sleep—is an important component of managing nerve pain. This may involve avoiding caffeine, shutting off the television or computer screens, and dimming the lights prior to bedtime.
Control Alcohol Intake
Alcohol can have a damaging effect on nerve health, so avoiding it may be one way to prevent some symptoms of peripheral neuropathy in your feet. In addition to causing numbness or pain in the feet, excessive alcohol can affect nerves in other ways, causing confusion, difficulty speaking, and loss of balance.
Help Is Available
If you or a loved one are struggling with alcohol use or addiction, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 for information on support and treatment facilities in your area.
Alternative Therapies
While research is limited on how some alternative therapies can help, these options do offer some possible benefits:
Essential oil massage: Essential oils may be used to quell the pain of neuropathy in your feet. Common oils include chamomile, peppermint, Saint-John's-wort, and ginger. Research regarding essential oils for nerve pain shows varying results, but it's worth trying if you aren't sensitive to essential oils.
Biofeedback: Types of biofeedback therapy include mindful meditation or guided imagery, which allow your focus to shift away from the nerve pain to calming thoughts. These techniques, done with a psychologist, may be helpful.
Supplements
Some people benefit from taking supplements. Common options include:
Turmeric: Turmeric is a spice that contains the compound curcumin, which has been shown to reduce inflammation and swelling. There is some evidence that taking turmeric can help reduce neuropathic pain, but research is limited.
Fish oil: While fish oil supplements have been shown to improve cardiovascular health, little is known about their effect on nerve pain. Some research indicates that fish oil may reduce pain in diabetic peripheral neuropathy.
Ginger: Supplementation with ginger has been shown to be effective in reducing inflammation in people with osteoarthritis, neuropathy, and generalized pain.
Talk to Your Healthcare Provider About Supplements
Always talk to your healthcare provider before adding a supplement to your care routine. It's important to make sure the supplement is safe for you and won't negatively interact with any other medications or supplements you're already taking.
Topical Treatment
Some people have found that using topical creams can provide relief from nerve pain in their feet. Specifically, topicals with capsaicin or lidocaine have been shown to decrease the symptoms of neuropathy. These tend to be more effective when combined with oral pain medications.
Use gloves or thoroughly wash your hands after applying these topicals and be careful to not get them into your eyes, nose, mouth, an open wound, or on your genitals.
Medical Management
If you have a medical condition that is causing your nerve pain, managing that condition can help ease foot pain. There are many things you can do on your own to manage the pain and burning caused by peripheral neuropathy, including:
Manage diabetes and blood sugar levels: If you have diabetic neuropathy, you'll need to manage your blood sugar levels to keep your nerves functioning properly and prevent further problems with neuropathy.
Exercise: Exercising regularly can help your body naturally manage blood sugar levels and, regulate your diabetes. Regulating diabetes may improve your symptoms of nerve pain in your feet.
Quit smoking: Smoking cigarettes or using other tobacco products can affect circulation. This increases your risk of foot problems and other complications of peripheral neuropathy.
Summary
Effectively managing nerve pain in your feet involves working with your healthcare provider to find the right medicine for your condition. Performing self-care (managing your blood sugar levels, exercising, not smoking) and using some simple home remedies can also help you find relief. Most cases of peripheral neuropathy can be managed well with a combination of traditional medical care and home remedies.
Read Next: The Most Common Reasons Your Feet May Hurt
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best foot soak for neuropathy?
The simplest foot soak is done by placing warm water in a tub with 1 tablespoon of Epsom salt. This can relax your foot muscles, improve circulation, and decrease nerve pain.
How do you sleep with nerve pain in your foot?
If nerve pain in your feet prevents you from sleeping well, practice good sleep hygiene by following a schedule when preparing to go to bed. Limit screen exposure, avoid caffeine, and dim lights prior to bedtime. Visit your healthcare provider to discuss ways to effectively fall to sleep and remain asleep.
