Diabetes and Neuropathy

Have you ever wondered why it's essential to keep your blood glucose levels in check?

If your levels get too high, the excess glucose in your blood can cause severe nerve damage, or neuropathy, in your feet. Neuropathy hinders blood flow to your legs and feet. According to the Mayo Clinic, diabetic neuropathy might affect as many as 50% of people with diabetes.

Types of Neuropathy

There are four types of diabetic neuropathy, but it is possible to suffer from several kinds simultaneously.

• Peripheral neuropathy – Initially affects the feet and legs. Includes feelings of numbness, reduced sensation of pain or temperature, tingling, burning, cramps and sensitivity to touch.
• Autonomic neuropathy – Diabetes can affect the nervous system that controls your heart, bladder, stomach, intestines, sex organs and eyes. This type of neuropathy can present as bladder or bowel problems, vision problems when adjusting from light to dark and sexual dysfunction.
• Proximal neuropathy – Impacts thigh, hip, buttock and leg nerves. Patients with this condition report difficulty rising after being seated and severe pain in the affected areas.
• Mononeuropathy – Affects the head and eyes. Symptoms are double vision, pain behind one eye, facial paralysis on one side and weakness or numbness in the hand or fingers.

Dangers

Neuropathy can range from mild discomfort to debilitating pain. Chronic neuropathy makes you vulnerable to infection or unaware you are suffering from ulcers. In severe cases, this can lead to amputation.

Prevention

• Battle brittleness. Infections can develop in cracked skin, so it is essential to moisturize your feet. Wash your feet daily in lukewarm water.
• Clip carefully. Trim your toenails in a straight line and file jagged edges.
• Don't shrug off the swelling. It could be a sign of something serious, such as a rare condition called Charcot—where bones become so weak that they break, shift or deform the foot.
• Get to know your feet. Inspect your feet daily from toenails to heel, and treat any abnormalities you find, such as dryness, cuts, sores and calluses. If a wound is oozing, inflamed or painful, seek medical attention — it could be infected.
• Keep 'em covered. Forget going barefoot — comfortable, properly fitted shoes and socks should protect your feet at all times.
• Schedule tests. The American Diabetes Association recommends people with diabetes schedule an A1C test twice annually. A 2019 study in Current Diabetes Reports found intensive insulin therapy reduced neuropathy by 60% after 6.5 years.
• Scrutinize shoes. Check for pebbles or other debris in your shoes before putting them on.

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