BBC Dr Xand suggests two treatments for 'burning' syndrome that affects 'one in 10 over 55'

BBC Dr Xand suggests two treatments for 'burning' syndrome that affects 'one in 10 over 55' Dr Xand van Tulleken said the syndrome could be 'incredibly debilitating and stressful' A doctor has offered guidance for people experiencing a 'burning' syndrome that can impact one in 10 individuals over the age of 55. Dr Xand van Tulleken featured on BBC Morning Live today (June 9) to address a suspected case of Burning Feet Syndrome, also known as Grierson-Gopalan syndrome. It followed a message from a viewer named Sylvia, who contacted the programme complaining that the soles of her feet felt like they were burning so intensely that she had to get out of bed and plunge her feet in cold water. Dr Xand said he believed it sounded like Burning Feet Syndrome. According to the NHS, it falls under peripheral neuropathy, which occurs when nerves are damaged in 'extremities such as the hands, feet and arms'. Symptoms include tingling sensations, burning or stabbing pain, loss of balance, and muscle weakness. Dr Xand outlined the symptoms and causes, and described two different approaches the condition could be treated with. What did Dr Xand say? In response to Sylvia's message, Dr Xand said: "I think is a thing called Burning Feet Syndrome. It is a recognised problem. And most of the time it comes from nerve damage so it's essentially the nerve fibres in in your in your feet are misfiring and they're sending signals to your brain as if they are getting heat pain and you have lots of different nerve fibres that send all different kinds of sensations from vibration to light touch, hard touch, pain, cold pain, hot pain. "So the hot pain ones in this case are kind of overactive. The bigger picture is a thing called peripheral neuropathy, so nerve damage at the edges of your body if you like - the sort out of your nervous system, in your in your limbs and in your body. "And if those nerves get damaged or they stop working, or they fire inappropriately, they can cause a very wide range of symptoms indeed. It's one in 10 people over 55. Presumably, this is different from person to person, though." Dr Xand went on to say: "There are nerves coming out of your spinal column that go to right to the tips of your toes, the tips of your fingers all over your body and they are sending out information to your body from your brain controlling your body, telling it to move, telling you to to sweat or dilute blood vessels but they're also receiving information and sending it back to your brain. "If you have damage to those nerves, it can cause a very, very wide range of problems indeed, from total loss of sensation to burning sensation to loss of movement or motor function." What does the NHS say? The NHS advises that it is vital to consult a GP should you notice the early warning signs of peripheral neuropathy. The principal symptoms of peripheral neuropathy can include: These symptoms tend to be persistent, though they may fluctuate. It's also advised that those at greatest risk of peripheral neuropathy, such as diabetics, undergo regular check-ups. Dr Xand confirmed that individuals with diabetes face heightened risk. The explanation for this is that elevated blood sugar levels linked to both type 1 and type 2 diabetes can harm the nerves in what's termed diabetic polyneuropathy. However, there can be alternative causes, including physical trauma to the nerves, a viral infection such as shingles, excessive alcohol consumption, or the side effect of certain medication. Dr Xand said a deficiency in vitamins could also be a factor. You may be referred to hospital to see a neurologist, a specialist in health problems affecting the nervous system. Generally, the sooner peripheral neuropathy is diagnosed, the better the chance of limiting the damage and preventing further complications. What to do about it Dr Xand also emphasised that seeking professional medical assistance was crucial. He said: "It is a problem. It's a very interesting problem and it's a problem that affects loads of people. "And it's one of these things that on any given day you might go, 'look I I don't want to hassle my GP I'm going to feel embarrassed to bother someone, you know'. "I think often people feel like unless they're at death's door they don't want to bother their GP and you think, 'well maybe there aren't solutions' but there are lots of things that can be done and it is really important to talk to your GP about it and these things can be it's disrupting your sleep, Sylvia, it is incredibly debilitating and stressful and can create a lot of long-term misery. "It is really worth kind of gathering your thoughts about thinking about it and making some notes for your GP before you go and see just so that you can kind of clearly communicate it. "How do you treat it? So, there are a few things to think about. One is to try and prevent and stop the nerve damage, so if it's caused by diabetes, you want to manage the diabetes and manage the sugar. A huge number of things can be done for that and to manage blood flow in the legs as well so that's very important to get on top of that. "If it's caused by a vitamin deficiency or a vitamin excess, you want to address that if it's caused by medication so treating the underlying problem is very important. If you've lost sensation, keeping your feet safe or your limbs safe around that is very important. "But for pain management of the kind that Sylvia's talking about, there are a couple of things. One is that there are painkillers that we might buy over the counter, paracetamol, ibuprofen, aspirin, those kind of things don't tend to work very well for nerve pain. So there are specific drugs - gabapentin, amitriptyline, things like this - that your GP can prescribe that are much more targeted to nerve pain and can bring some relief. "The other thing that for the Burning Feet Syndrome that Sylvia's talking about is a capsaicin cream. Capsaicin is the molecule in chilli peppers that makes them spicy and it is a molecule that directly binds only to the pain heat nerves and activates them. So you are essentially rubbing chilli oil as a cream onto your feet, so you put hot on hot. "Now, the history of chilli plants is extraordinary. Probably one of the earliest domesticated plants, we've been growing them for 8,000 years. We've been using them as medicinal plants for a very, very long time and they really are valuable. What the capsaicin does is, anyone who's ever eaten spicy food, you know the feeling, it stimulates the hot pain receptor and that's what you get when you eat a curry or a spicy meal. "When you put that molecule on your feet, it stimulates the pain receptor. So people will say, well it it hurts. But what it does is it overstimulates those pain receptors, it kind of wears them out, they get bored of sending the information to the brain. If you stimulate them a lot, those nerves can even die. You don't necessarily want to kill nerves but, in this case, you deactivate the nerves that are causing the pain and it can make a very big difference. That's why if you like spicy food, you need to keep increasing the spiciness because you deactivate the receptors in in in your mouth."