Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs due to a lack of insulin formation in the pancreas or lessening of sensitivity to its impact between cells. Insulin is required for cells to create glucose. If not treated in time, obstinately high blood glucose levels brings about damage to nerves and organs, particularly the minor outlying nerves that spread out into the eyes, hands and feet. About 60-70% of diabetics have some form of nerve impairment (neuropathy). Over and over again, the feet happen to be the first part of the body to show symptoms linked to diabetes, so knowing what the symptoms are and getting tested for them on a consistent basis will help avoid permanent impairment and ill health.
Be aware of numbness in your feet
One of the first and most usual symptoms of outlying neuropathy that diabetics spot out is that their feet lose feeling and turn numb. It can jump in the toes, then develops to the rest of the foot and then up the leg in a stocking-like delivery. Most times, both feet are affected, even though one side may start first or be more obviously numb than the other.
Be alert to tingling and burning sensations
One more common symptom is itchy feelings, such as pins, tingling and needles and/or scorching pain. Such feelings can feel like to those when circulation returns to your foot after it has been “insensible.” The itchy feelings, called paresthesia, range from minor to severe and don’t typically affect both feet equally.
Take note of increased sensitivity to touch, called hyperesthesia
An additional change of foot sensations that progresses in a minority of diabetics is an upsurge in sensitivity to touch. So rather than reducing sensation and numbness in the feet, which is the most usual result, some diabetics turn out to be excessively sensitive or even oversensitive to touch. For example, even the weight of a bed sheet on their feet can be very painful to diabetics with this disorder.
Pay attention to cramps or sharp pains
As the peripheral neuropathy develops, it begins to have an impact on the muscles of the feet. One of the first signs of muscle connection in a diabetic is foot cramps and/or piercing shooting pains, particularly in the soles. The pains and cramps can be sufficient enough to stop a diabetic from walking around and can be typically severe at night while in bed.
Image courtesy of: drjefflamour.com.
