Diabetes affects your feet by causing nerve damage (neuropathy) that reduces sensation and poor circulation (peripheral vascular disease) that slows healing, creating a dangerous combination where minor cuts, blisters, or sores can go unnoticed, become infected, develop into ulcers, and potentially lead to tissue death or even amputation if not caught and treated early. Key problems include numbness, burning/tingling, slow-healing wounds, calluses, cracks, and changes in foot shape (Charcot's foot).
Risk factors for diabetes
A DPM can examine your feet for diabetes warning signs such as redness, numbness, swelling, scaly skin, inflammation, loss of hair on the toes, and non-healing wounds or sores. If symptoms are found, the DPM will refer you to other physicians, in addition to scheduling you for regular visits.
The 5 stages of diabetic foot ulcers generally progress from a healthy foot (Stage 1) through increasing severity: a high-risk foot (Stage 2, with calluses/blisters), a shallow ulcer (Stage 3), a deeper infected ulcer (Stage 4, involving bone/tendon), and finally gangrene or necrosis (Stage 5, tissue death, often needing amputation). Management focuses on preventing progression, especially in earlier stages, through good foot care, blood sugar control, and addressing neuropathy and poor circulation.
Although rare, nerve damage from diabetes can lead to changes in the shape of your feet, such as Charcot's foot. Charcot's foot may start with redness, warmth, and swelling. Later, bones in your feet and toes can shift or break, which can cause your feet to have an odd shape, such as a “rocker bottom.”
Many people with diabetes have peripheral artery disease (PAD), which reduces blood flow to the feet. Also, many people with diabetes have neuropathy, causing you to not feel your feet. Together, these problems make it easy to get ulcers and infections that may lead to amputation.
The nerve damage, called diabetic neuropathy, can cause numbness, tingling, pain, or a loss of feeling in your feet. If you can't feel pain, you may not know when you have a cut, blister, or ulcer (open sore) on your foot. A wound like that could get infected.
Early signs of diabetes often include increased thirst and frequent urination, extreme hunger, fatigue, blurred vision, slow-healing sores, and unexplained weight loss (especially Type 1) or weight gain (Type 2), but Type 2 symptoms can be mild or absent, so regular checkups are key. Tingling in hands/feet, frequent infections (yeast, UTIs), and mood changes can also appear.
Walking is one of the easiest activities to start with, and most people with diabetes can do it. The risk of injury is low, and even people with diabetes complications can usually walk for exercise. (Check with your health care provider if you have a foot injury, open sore, or ulcer.)
Prediabetes Symptoms
“Some people with prediabetes may already have nerve damage, which can cause tingling or numbness in the feet and hands,” she notes. If you are at risk for prediabetes, your doctor may test your blood for sugar levels, or a blood sugar test might be part of your regular check-up.
The most common type is peripheral neuropathy, which often affects your feet. There's no cure for diabetes-related neuropathy. But you can manage it with medication, therapies and tighter blood sugar management.
Visit your regular doctor or foot doctor if you have any of these symptoms: Tingling, burning, or pain in your feet. A change in the color and temperature of your feet. Dry, cracked skin on your feet.
Your provider will check:
The high blood sugar levels associated with diabetes can commonly cause nerve damage and poor circulation in the feet. This is known as diabetic foot or Charcot foot. Diabetic foot reconstruction surgery corrects the damage to the foot and ankle caused by complications of diabetes.
To avoid hurting your skin, don't use a nail file, nail clipper or scissors on calluses, corns or warts. Don't use chemical wart removers. See your provider or foot specialist (podiatrist) to remove any of these issues. Cut your toenails carefully.
Diabetic nails may look thickened, yellowish, brittle, or have an unusual shape. This is often due to reduced blood flow to the extremities and nerve damage, also known as peripheral neuropathy, which affects the feet.
Wash your feet well every day but refrain from using hot water. Instead, use warm soapy water and be sure to check your feet for sores, cuts, blisters, corns, or redness. Dry your feet carefully and apply a gentle moisturizer. Take care to avoid moisturizing between your toes which can lead to infections.
Numbness, Tingling, and Loss of Sensation
One of the earliest and most common diabetic foot symptoms is numbness in the diabetic feet. It may feel like pins and needles, or your feet may feel 'asleep. ' This often signals peripheral neuropathy, nerve damage caused by high blood sugar levels.
Fasting blood glucose test
This is a blood test that measures blood sugar levels after fasting. If your fasting blood sugar level is between 100 mg/dL and 125 mg/dL, it's an indication that you're prediabetic.
Wear socks without seams. Avoid tight-fitting socks and garters. Wear socks in bed if your feet are cold at night.
Testing your blood sugar is an essential part of managing your diabetes. Test your blood sugar first thing in the morning to get a baseline reading for the day. This can help you adjust your diabetes management plan as needed.
5 tips to reduce or reverse diabetes
Life expectancy is known as the number of years a person is expected to live. At age 50, life expectancy is 6 years shorter for people with type 2 diabetes than for people without diabetes. By meeting type 2 diabetes treatment goals, life expectancy can increase by 3 years, or for some, as much as 10 years.
Symptoms of hyperglycaemia
While most people make 1 to 3 quarts of urine a day, people with diabetes insipidus can make up to 20 quarts of urine a day. People with this disorder need to urinate frequently, called polyuria. They may also feel thirsty all the time and drink lots of liquids, a condition called polydipsia.
Type 2 diabetes symptoms often take several years to develop. Some people don't notice any symptoms at all. Type 2 diabetes usually starts when you're an adult, though more and more children and teens are developing it. Because symptoms are hard to spot, it's important to know the risk factors for type 2 diabetes.