Numbness or decreased ability to feel pain or temperature changes · Tingling or burning sensation · Sharp aches or cramps · Muscle weakness · Extreme sensitivity to Neuropathy Pain Relief in Trammels TX. See your doctor if you have diabetes and any symptoms of nerve damage, such as numbness or tingling in your hands or feet. Also see your doctor if you have a sore on your foot that doesn't heal. Diabetic neuropathy is a complication of diabetes that damages the nervous system. Depending on the type, a person may feel a burning or itchy sensation, numbness, or extreme sensitivity to touch or temperature. Diabetic neuropathies are a family of nerve disorders caused by diabetes.
People with diabetes can, over time, suffer damage to nerves throughout their body. Some people with nerve damage have no symptoms. Others may have symptoms such as pain, tingling or numbness, loss of feeling in the hands, arms, feet, and legs. Nerve problems can occur in all organ systems, including the digestive tract, heart, and sexual organs. The symptoms depend on the type of neuropathy and the nerves affected.
Some people with nerve damage don't have any symptoms. For others, the first symptom is usually numbness, tingling, or pain in the feet. Symptoms are usually mild at first, and since most nerve damage occurs over several years, mild cases may go unnoticed for a long time. Symptoms may affect the sensory, motor, and autonomic or involuntary nervous systems.
In some people, especially those with focal neuropathy, the onset of pain may be sudden and intense. The main symptom is nerve pain that starts in the upper thigh of one leg and can affect the hips and lower back. Weight loss is a symptom in approximately 35% of patients with proximal neuropathy, and around 18% experience weakness in the affected area in addition to pain. Rarely, proximal neuropathy may occur in the arm.
You'll usually experience slight numbness or tingling in the toes. This may progress, and over time, you may not be able to feel pain or temperature differences. At night, symptoms usually worsen. This type of diabetic neuropathy affects one nerve at a time and the symptoms depend on the nerve affected.
If you have diabetes, you should inspect your feet daily, keep them clean and dry, use a moisturizer on the top and bottom of your feet (but not between your toes), and wear dry socks that fit well and shoes or slippers that fit well at all times. You can help prevent diabetic neuropathy by getting support for physical activity and following a healthy, balanced diet. Depending on the nerves affected, symptoms of diabetic neuropathy include pain and numbness in the legs, feet, and hands. It usually affects older adults and can affect people with newly diagnosed or well-controlled diabetes.
Diabetic autonomic neuropathy primarily affects the autonomic nerves that serve the internal organs, processes and systems of the heart, digestive system, sexual organs, urinary tract and sweat glands. Diabetes develops in children and adults usually as a result of the body not producing enough insulin. People with diabetes are more likely to be hospitalized for a foot ulcer than for any other complication of diabetes. Your doctor or nurse who specializes in diabetes will evaluate you for signs of diabetic neuropathy during your annual exam.
People can treat symptoms of diabetic neuropathy with medications, such as anticonvulsants and serotonin inhibitors, and with physical therapy. There is also ongoing research on whether the use of electrical stimulation (TENS, for its acronym in English, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) can help in the treatment of diabetic neuropathy. Women with pre-existing diabetes who plan to become pregnant benefit the most from specialized care before they conceive to optimize their glycemic control and overall health. Diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN) affects multiple peripheral sensory and motor nerves that branch from the spinal cord to the arms, hands, legs and feet.
Diabetic neuropathies also appear to be more common in people who have problems controlling blood glucose, also called blood sugar, as well as in people with high levels of fat and blood pressure, and in people who are overweight. Depending on the type of diabetic neuropathy they have, a person will experience its physical effects and sensations differently.
