Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy

Are your feet numb? Or, do your feet tingle, or burn?

Peripheral neuropathy is nerve damage caused by diabetes. The degree of symptoms can very, however, it can become overwhelming to the point of depression.

Initially, there may not be any noticeable symptoms. This tends to develop slowly over months or years. Generally, symptoms may include; tingling, numbness, tightness, burning, shooting pain, stabbing pain, weakness and loss of balance and coordination.

The most common part of the body that is affected are your feet.

Nerves are found throughout your body. They are responsible for everything you feel, from hot to cold to pain. They are also very sensitive to the glucose, or blood sugar around them. A person with diabetes has an excessive amount of glucose in the blood stream.

A prolonged period of high blood sugar levels cause narrowing of the blood vessels, which brings oxygen and nutrients to the nerves.

Your nerves are extremely sensitive to any change to them. When the small vessels are unable to provide the nerves with the proper amount of oxygen and nutrients, they become damaged and eventually die.

Also, the excess glucose may stimulate an immune attack on the coating that surrounds the nerves, therefore, decreasing or damaging the impulses that those nerves carry.

The first sign of nerve damage is in the feet. The numbness, tingling or burning is often first noticed at bedtime, which can greatly compromise a good nights rest.

An extreme case of neuropathy is when there is a total absence of feeling in your feet. This is serious because small injuries, such as a blister, can go undetected due to the loss of feeling in the feet.

And, if left untreated, it can become infected and in severe cases, require amputation.

Neuropathy can also spread to other parts of your body.

The best way to treat diabetic peripheral neuropathy, is to prevent it. This is accomplished through a healthy lifestyle, such as proper diabetic diet, exercise, limiting alcohol use and stop smoking.

The tighter the glucose control, the less likely you are to develop neuropathy symptoms, or at least prevent it from getting worse.

In other words, avoid the extreme highs and lows in the blood sugar level. This means you have to monitor and check your blood sugar at least once a day.

But the news isn’t all bad.

If you are unfortunate to suffer from this condition, there are treatment options. In severe cases, this condition may be permanent since the nerve damage may be too far gone.

The key here, is not to trust the way your feet feel. This is because you have no feeling, and if you get a foot injury, you will not be able to feel pain, which would alert you to examine your feet.

Therefore, the most important thing you can do is to physically look at the bottoms of your feet to see if there is an injury or anything suspicious going on.

Again, you must examine your feet carefully, and on a regular basis.

Keep an eye out for any changes in your feet, and of course you must report any changes you find to your Podiatrist or Physician immediately.

Early detection is your key to avoiding or reducing the effects of Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy.

Treatment includes various medications and topical creams. Complementary therapies can include physical therapy, massage, stretching, electrical stimulation, vitamins, acupuncture.

If you live in South Florida, and you would like a consultation with me, please call my office at:

In or near Boynton Beach, call 561-734-4867

In or near Wellington, call 561-433-5577.