How does diabetes cause foot problems? Foot problems are common in people with diabetes. They can happen over time when high blood sugar damages the nerves and blood vessels in the feet. The nerve damage, called diabetic neuropathy, can cause numbness, tingling, pain, or a loss of feeling in your feet.
Tingling, burning, or pain in your feet. Loss of sense of touch or ability to feel heat or cold very well. A change in the shape of your feet over time. Loss of hair on your toes, feet, and lower legs.
When you have diabetes, high glucose levels in the blood can damage nerves and blood vessels. Because the nerves and blood vessels supplying the feet are so long and delicate, the feet — and especially the toes — often get affected first.
Diabetic foot infections are a frequent clinical problem. About 50% of patients with diabetic foot infections who have foot amputations die within five years. Properly managed most can be cured, but many patients needlessly undergo amputations because of improper diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.
Your provider will brush a soft nylon fiber called a monofilament over your foot and toes to test your foot's sensitivity to touch. Tuning fork and visual perception tests (VPT). Your provider will place a tuning fork or other device against your foot and toes to see if you can feel the vibration it produces.
Unfortunately, there's no cure for diabetic neuropathy. But you can take steps to slow the progression of this disease. Your doctor will likely recommend pain medication to help alleviate nerve pain. For mild nerve pain, you can take over-the-counter medications like acetaminophen or ibuprofen.
Diabetic foot ulcer is a feared complication of diabetes with a yearly incidence around 2–4% [1]. A diabetic foot ulcer has a variety of causes, often including peripheral ischemia, neuropathy or both. Ulcer healing takes weeks or months, and one-third of ulcers never heal with amputation as the consequence [2].
Diabetic patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) can have rest pain, claudication, and lower walking speed, which reduces their walking distance and their daily physical activity [83, 95]. Neuropathy can reduce leg symptoms and explains the absence of rest pain or claudication [1].
Diabetic foot infections are a frequent clinical problem. About 50% of patients with diabetic foot infections who have foot amputations die within five years. Properly managed most can be cured, but many patients needlessly undergo amputations because of improper diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.
Prediabetes and Nerve Damage
This diabetic neuropathy can lead to numbness, tingling, burning or pain in the extremities such as the feet, toes and hands. Your feet are especially vulnerable to nerve damage as well as blood vessel damage from high blood sugar.
Diabetic dermopathy appears as pink to red or tan to dark brown patches, and it is most frequently found on the lower legs. The patches are slightly scaly and are usually round or oval. Long-standing patches may become faintly indented (atrophic).
What Does Diabetic Foot Pain Feel Like? This type of foot pain is often accompanied by other symptoms like numbness, tingling, and a burning sensation due to neuropathy. More than 70% of patients with diabetes eventually develop diabetic neuropathy. This condition cannot be cured, but the symptoms can be managed.
Signs of Diabetic Foot Problems
Swelling in the foot or ankle. Pain in the legs. Open sores on the feet that are slow to heal or are draining. Ingrown toenails or toenails infected with fungus.
Most lower leg and foot removals begin with foot ulcers. An ulcer that won't heal causes severe damage to tissues and bone. It may require surgical removal (amputation) of a toe, a foot or part of a leg. Some people with diabetes are at higher risk than others.
The exact cause of most types of diabetes is unknown. In all cases, sugar builds up in the bloodstream. This is because the pancreas doesn't produce enough insulin. Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes may be caused by a combination of genetic or environmental factors.
Symptoms of high blood sugar
feeling very thirsty. peeing a lot. feeling weak or tired. blurred vision.
The infection may not heal well because the damaged blood vessels can cause poor blood flow in your feet. Having an infection and poor blood flow can lead to gangrene. That means the muscle, skin, and other tissues start to die.
The body is not able to repair nerve tissues that have been damaged, meaning that diabetic neuropathy cannot be reversed. However, the side effects can be managed, and neuropathy treatment often focuses on preventing further damage from happening.
Itching of the feet, legs or ankles is a common complaint in people with diabetes that may occur as a result of a period of too high sugar levels. Itching can range from being annoying to severe. Itching can be relieved through treatment, and may be eliminated if the underlying cause is treated.
Diabetic dermopathy
The spots look like red or brown round patches or lines in the skin and are common in people with diabetes. They appear on the front of your legs (your shins) and are often confused with age spots. The spots don't hurt, itch, or open up.
These bumps appear suddenly and clear promptly when diabetes is well-controlled. When these bumps appear, they often look like pimples. Unlike pimples, they soon develop a yellowish color. You'll usually find these bumps on the buttocks, thighs, crooks of the elbows, or backs of the knees.