Walking on bubble wrap
Katrina and the waves sang about walking on sunshine. Walking on bubble wrap isn’t quite as catchy. (great, now that song is in my head)
This sensation has been described to me a number of ways. Some say it feels “like my socks are bunched up” under their toes. Other say it feels like they’re “walking on bubble wrap”. It’s just a strange feeling, and even after you rearrange your socks, it’s still there.
Damage from diabetic neuropathy starts in the toes and the pad of the foot. That means it’s usually the first area to start having strange sensations as the nerves become sick and die. The bottom of your feet are pretty used to having weight on them, and they detect the pressure and send those signals to your brain. You’ve been getting those signals pretty regularly for years now, and they don’t even enter into your mind.
Getting in your brain
Your brain actually ignores most sensations it receives, because if it didn’t, you’d go crazy. If you were to think about your shirt, and where it touches your upper back, you can probably feel it right now. If you don’t think about it, you are not aware of that sensation. Your shirt is constantly stimulating the pressure and touch sensors on your upper back. The brain receives these signals from the nerves and spinal cord.
Your subconscious mind processes these signals but if they are below a certain threshold, you won’t feel them. When you focus on them, you can feel them, but otherwise, you aren’t consciously aware of the sensation. If it reaches a certain threshold your subconscious will interrupt your conscious mind to let you know what’s happening (If I was to tap you on the shoulder for example.)
As neuropathy progresses, and the signals become abnormal, your subconscious interrupts the conscious to tell it about abnormal sensations. Because of the sick nerves in your feet and toes, the sensation when you step on the pad of your foot changes. This strikes the subconscious as unusual, and it tells you about it. The socks bunched up sensation can quite quickly become distracting, and annoying.
Making it stop
You could take drugs to try to dampen the sensations, and cover up these symptoms. That can work, for a while, but the cause of the problem is addressed, it will get worse over time. This leads to the drugs not working anymore. Then you need more drugs, different drugs, and all the while your diabetic neuropathy gets worse.
The best approach is to stop trying to hide the problem and use a proven system to stop the damage and begin to heal. Neurowellness is all about helping you get back to the things you love.
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Hello,
Thanks for the article. Is there a forum where patients with similar issue can share information?
Thanks,
Katie
Hi Katie. That’s a great question, but I’m not sure where you would find the best forum to get good information on this topic. There is so much misinformation out there, and many of my patients have been given bad advice. I do have a VIP email list that I send info to every week and sometimes even answer subscriber questions. If you want more information on healing neuropathy you can join it here: https://drcam.kartra.com/page/pqL51
I have this sensation, but I am not diabetic. My blood sugar has never been higher than 98 in the past 28 years of annual physicals. I did have high potassium- 5.7 – on my last physical, but my BUN and Creatinine were good, as was the feat of my blood test results.
Hi Joe,
While this sensation is quite typical with diabetic neuropathy, it occurs with neuropathy from other causes as well (and there are a lot of things that can cause it, from low B12 to statin drugs to chemotherapy.) It’s a good idea to see your doctor to nail down a cause – and then correct it. Clinically, finding a cause can sometimes be a challenge in non-diabetic patients, as up to 50% of the time no cause is found.
The method we teach has great success healing diabetic neuropathy, but less so when the cause is not known.
Same here I can feel my feet just fine too !!!
Hi..I have wierd sensation in my foot ..like my phone is buzzing..
Hey Magdq, Strange sensations are not uncommon and are not always a sign of neuropathy.
I’d suggest massage and supplementation with magnesium and potassium for a few weeks and see if it clears up.
Thank you so much for this article. I have questioned myself as to whether I am making up symptoms but it is exactly as you describe. Doctor is sending me for an urgent neuro appointment.
Feel better that I am not neurotic haha!
Totally sane Brenda!
I had viral encephalitis 5 years ago. I have limited sensation from the waist down. Has anyone else had this experience. Thanks Jim
My husband is experiencing pain in one area under his right foot. When I massaged it, it felt like a hose filled with water with air bubbles in. His other foot is ok and feels normal. What is this? How can I fix it? His feet are on the dry side.
Hi Deb. It’s hard to say for certain from your description, but it sounds like inflammation and swelling, perhaps in a synovial joint. It can occur from injury, infection, arthritis or gout. Often these inflammatory responses resolve on their own, but if not he may need to seek medical care.
Can the feeling of “BUBBLE WRAP: be caused by Athletes Feet?
Glen
Hi Glenn,
Bubble wrap feeling is not a typical symptom of Athlete’s foot. Is typically caused by damage to the small fiber nerves which leads to this strange sensation. If you are a diabetic make sure you see your doctor if you have athlete’s foot, since it is more likey to worsen and result in bacterial infections.
If you have nerve damage and loss of blood flow to your feet, (typical with those who have diabetes and neuropathy sufferers) then it will make it more likely for you to develop infection (like athlete’s foot) and other problems.
Hi, I had to stand all day last week for 9 hours. My feet were in so much pain and numb. Now the numbness is only in one foot and limited to 2 toes and ball of foot but getting a little better each day.
However, when I walk I notice a bubble sensation under the ball near my second toe. Will this go away or have I damaged my nerves for good? I do not have diabetes that I know of. I am
pretty sure this is due to standing all day which is not the norm for me.
Hi Toni,
I don’t think you have damaged your nerves for good. They do heal over time. It sounds like you injured your feet with all the standing. Nerve damage can cause that bubble sensation, and it will diminish as your nerves heal (unless they are still being injured every day – like in cases of diabetic or drug-induced neuropathy.)
My husband only just brought this up to me after almost a year of feeling it. He says it feels like he is working on bubble wrap but when I feel his feet everything is smooth. It is both feet and he feels better after putting socks or shoes on. He is not diabetic And exercises regularly But, When I look at the bottom of his feet one of them seems like it has almost a black color to it.
Hi Eileen!
Sorry to hear of your husband’s troubles. Neuropathy is the most common cause of that “bubble wrap” feeling – and it’s just a sensation, so there aren’t any bumps or changes in the skin at all. It is most commonly caused by diabetes or even pre-diabetes, but other things can cause it as well, like deficiencies (such as B12).
The black discoloration is concerning however, it sounds like something he should see his doctor about.
Hi, My father has described this feeling and has been on statins for years. What doe you advise to take in this case? He is regularly taking all of his important vitamins such as D, C, zinc, glucosamine, and co q 10.
Hi Diane.
While it’s impossible to give specific advice, there are a few things I would do in that situation.
1. Adopt a low-carbohydrate diet.
2. Be wary of statins. Do some serious research on cholesterol and heart disease. You could start with this: https://vimeo.com/226585963
3. Sounds like you’re rolling on the supplements, you could download my cheat sheet to see what I recommend: https://drcam.kartra.com/page/leR75
4. Consider adding MIRE light and whole-body vibration to boost healing (I touch on this in the cheat sheet too).
And lastly, once he’s made the changes it will take time. Nerves are very slow to heal – but they do heal.
Hi, I have this “bubble Wrap” feeling too. Went to the doctors, who has referred me to a neurology clinic. If my referral is accepted I have a wait of about 44 weeks. It was my doctor that took me off B12 (strong compound) after I had been advised to take it by an “alcohol abuse advisor”. Can I buy B12 “over the counter” or does it need a prescription?
Hi Russ.
You bet you can buy vitamin B12 over the counter. At your local health food or drug store in the vitamin section. It’s even available on amazon https://amzn.to/37P70g3
If you’d like to get started doing something before the 44 weeks are up I discuss some steps you can take in the MasterClass here.
I go over the only method I’ve found that starts nerves healing.
Peace to your house,
Dr. Cam.
Hi I’m not sure if I have bubble wrap but right below the heel of my left foot when I walk it feels like and air pocket is there and it’s also painful every time pressure is put there when I walk it feels like a pop that’s the best way I can explain it what could this be?
Hi Shalanda,
It sounds like the nerves in your heel have been damaged somehow (neuropathy?)
When nerves are damaged, there are so many strange sensations that can happen, and most of them are very hard to describe. This occurs because the nerves send inconsistent signals to the brain, and your brain does its best to figure out what’s going on. Aggravating, to say the least!
I have the bubble wrap feeling and my balance is off. I’m menopausal and I fell and sprained my foot but it’s in both feet it’s depressing. What type of doctor should I see? What can I do to help my feet heal?
Hi Carolyn,
If you haven’t downloaded my free cheat sheet yet, I’d start there.
To heal your feet, there are essentially three steps.
1. Stop further damage – for most people, this means leaving the low-fat diet behind and eliminating most carbohydrates and adding healthy fats.
2. Restore sufficient levels of nutrients through diet and supplements
3. Boost healing of the small fibre nerves in your feet using vibration and light systems.
The basic steps are in the cheat sheet listed above.
There are also neuropathy treatment clinics that provide light therapy in most cities, or I can source a light system for you to use at home.
It is annoying to be sure, but don’t be depressed – you can heal!
I have had bubble wrap sensations on the bottoms of my toes— no pain. I started taking B vitamins, including B12. I will cut down on my carbs as I do like sweets. I have dropped 1/2 size in my shoes. I felt I had fat pad atrophy, but a Podiatrist I talked to was not familar with it. Thank You
You’re welcome Jackie! Keep up the good work.
I’m sorry, I now this article is 2018 but I just found it.
I started having such feeling back in 2018 in my foot pads. I described it to my dr as ‘walking on pebbles/rocks’.
It’s grown progressively worse over the past 5 years. My toes are tough to pull back and sometimes my ankles hurt. But the ‘bubblewrap’ feeling ls always there. Sometimes feels like a vice is being applied to my toes and foot pads.
I have had tests for everything and apart from uric acid being on the high limit, my bloods, vitamins and everything including glucose etc are in the middle of range. I’ve had previously DECT CT to detect gout but found a minor amount (0.06cm³) of monosodium crystals in the left big toe. Not really consistent with both feet feeling horrendous.
I January this year I had my very first gout attack in right big toe joint.
Previous ultrasound indicated bilateral bursitis. I’ve had orthotics (many) and cortisone injections for those. Still no change.
Q: Can these symptoms be associated with gout even without a significant presence of crystals?
Hi Greg.
The short answer is no. Gout is an inflammation of the joints (often big toe first).
It does not lead to a feeling of walking on bubble wrap – this sensation is typically caused by damage to the small fibre nerves in the bottom of the foot, leading to abnormal signals being transmitted.
The most common cause of this is diabetes, but there are other causes as well, from drugs (like statins) to toxic exposure (chemicals, heavy metals etc). In some cases, the cause remains unknown.
I recently found this thread as well as I was searching for information about the “foot pad atrophy” or “walking on bubble wrap” sensation I’m having. I have Multiple Sclerosis and receive treatment with Ocrevus twice a year. Could my condition, treatment, or both, cause this feeling in my feet? I was so happy to find this article. Thank you for writing it.
Hi Nate! It is not uncommon for those with MS to develop tingling and sensory issues, although they typically tend to be on one side of the body. Certainly, toxins and drugs can cause neuropathy as well, but I don’t see neuropathy as a common side effect of Ocrevus.