What is Diabetic Neuropathy?

Diabetic Neuropathy - Pictured above is a diagram of how it affects a person

Diabetic neuropathy is a type of nerve damage that makes it hard for the nerves to carry messages to the brain and other parts of the body. This type of nerve damage happens in people who have diabetes. When you have diabetic neuropathy it can cause the following symptoms:

• Numbness or painful tingling and burning in parts of the body. This mainly occurs in your fingers, toes, hands or feet.


• Difficulty walking and muscle weakness.


• Cuts, sores or blisters on your feet that do not hurt like you would expect them too. They will also heal very slowly.


• Bladder problems such as urinary tract infections and loss of bladder control.


• Digestive problems such as bloating, abdominal pain, constipation, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

What causes the neuropathy? To get to the answer of this question, you need to understand what happens in your body when you have diabetes. Diabetes causes the level of sugar in your blood to be higher than normal. Over time, the high blood sugar levels damage your blood vessels and nerves. So this is why people who don't control or can't control their blood sugar levels seem more likely to have diabetic neuropathy. Also, men or more likely to have diabetic neuropathy than women, as well as, high cholesterol levels. Smoking can also increase your risk.

Diabetic neuropathy causes numbness in the feet and toes it can lead to ulcers. Mainly because the ulcer can form and continually get worse without the person knowing it. They will not be able to tell that there an ulcer unless they are checking their feet on a daily basis. It is very important that a diabetic check their feet daily and look for signs of ulcers forming. List below are the stages of ulcers:

• Stage 1—Characterized by reddening wounds over bony areas. The redness on the skin does not go away when pressure is relieved.


• Stage 2—Characterized by blisters, peeling, or cracked skin. There is a partial thickness skin loss involving the top two layers of the skin.


• Stage 3—Characterized by broken skin and sometimes bloody drainage. There is a full thickness skin loss involving subcutaneous tissue (the tissue between the skin and the muscle.)


• Stage 4—Characterized by breaks in the skin involving skin, muscle, tendon, and bone and are often associated with a bone infection (osteomyelitis).

Pictured above is the Natural Step Gabriella. Diabetic shoes are one of the best ways for people with diabetic neuropathy to prevent ulcers from forming. Diabetic shoes are a built for comfort and designed to meet Medicare guidelines. They have a wider toe box and a rocker bottom sole. Diabetic shoes are designed as a preventative measure for people who have diabetes. Pictured below, Natuaral Step Palmero .

If you have diabetic neuropathy and do not have diabetic shoes or if you are diabetic and do not have diabetic shoes, contact our office at 419-423-1888 to schedule an appoint to see Dr. Vail. You can also visit us on the web at www.vailfoot.com , where you can find our online store and plenty of information regarding your feet.