For the more than one in 10 Americans who have diabetes (about 38.4 million people), life certainly has its challenges. The potential complications that stem from diabetes can, quite literally, affect you from head to toe — from vision issues to diabetic foot ulcers.
Because November is National Diabetes Month, the team at Glaser Pain Relief Center, under the expert leadership of Dr. Jeffrey Glaser and Dr. John Zheng, decided to focus on a very common side effect of diabetes — peripheral neuropathy.
Here, we present three important pieces of information about diabetes-related nerve damage, including how we can help you contain and control the issue.
Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar (glucose) levels in your body. When you have diabetes, maintaining normal glucose levels is tricky thanks to insulin resistance and not enough insulin.
When you have high levels of glucose in your bloodstream, it can damage your blood vessels and compromise your circulation. As a result, your nerves aren't getting the resources they need to function properly, which can lead to nerve damage, or neuropathy.
These problems tend to be amplified in areas that are far from your heart, where blood needs to work harder to circulate. This explains why nearly half of people with diabetes develop peripheral neuropathy in their lower limbs.
The symptoms of peripheral neuropathy are not pleasant and include pain, numbness, tingling, and weakness.
If you develop nerve damage in your lower legs, ankles, and feet because of diabetes-related peripheral neuropathy, our next big concern is diabetic foot ulcers, which occur in about one-third of people with diabetes.
When the sensory nerves in your feet are compromised, you might not notice a potential problem until it’s too late. For example, you might have a pebble in your shoe that you’re not aware of, but when you take your shoe off later in the day, that little pebble has created an open wound.
Lower limb wounds among diabetics are a serious matter because that same blood flow issue that’s causing your neuropathy can also present a roadblock to healing. This leaves you vulnerable to hard-to-treat infections — about 50% of diabetic foot ulcers become infected, and 20% of these infections lead to amputation.
Our primary objective when it comes to neuropathy is to treat the problem as soon as possible so you don’t develop those more serious complications.
The moment you experience any strange sensations or discomfort in your lower limbs, we want you to come see us. During your visit, we review your symptoms and perform some nerve testing to assess the damage.
Neuropathy is progressive, and our goal is to get in there and halt its progress as well as relieve your existing symptoms. Treatment plans can include:
Between our treatments and a few lifestyle changes, as well as your commitment to keep your blood sugar levels in a normal range, we can help you set the stage for fewer diabetes complications like peripheral neuropathy and diabetic foot ulcers.
For expert treatment of your diabetes-related peripheral neuropathy, please contact Glaser Pain Relief Center in Encino, California, to schedule an appointment today.
