Table of Contents
What is diabetic neuropathy?
Diabetic neuropathy pain: Diabetic neuropathy is nerve damage caused by diabetes.
The most common of these is nerve damage in the feet and hands. This kind of nerve damage can lead to different kinds of symptoms, such as numbness or lack of muscle control burning or tingling pain, burning, and extremely sensitive to touch.
Diabetes nerve pain is often worse at night. This can disrupt your sleep, leading to difficulty with thinking and memory, mood changes, and lower quality of life.
Types of Diabetic neuropathy pain
1. Autonomic neuropathy
It can affect so many of your body’s functions that happen in your body without you thinking about them: your heart pumps, you breathe, and your stomach digests food.
2. Focal neuropathy
It comes on suddenly most often affecting nerves in the head and affects one specific nerve: It’s focused neuropathy.
3. Peripheral neuropathy
It’s the most common form of neuropathy caused by diabetes. It affects nerves leading to your extremities to your feet, legs, hands, and arms.
4. Proximal neuropathy
Proximal neuropathy can cause muscle weakness.
PAINFUL FOOT: A simple or long walk can result in stress fractures of the metatarsal bone in people who lead a sedentary lifestyle. There is local sensitivity, and fractures can be detected radiographically.
PAINFUL HEEL: This pain radiates to the sole of the foot. It can spontaneously result from plantar, or else become related to ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatic arthritis, gonococcal infections, or an unrecognized fracture of the calcaneal bone, esp. in young people who practice many walking exercises and training.
Symptoms of Diabetic Neuropathy
- Shooting
- Burning
- Pain
- Tingling
- Numbness (loss of feeling)
- symptoms get worse at night
- stabbing
- Throbbing
- Muscle weakness
- Muscle cramping and twitching
- Insensitivity to pain and temprature
- Extreme sensitivity to even the lightest touch
Causes of Diabetic Neuropathy
- Age
- Lifestyle choices (alcohol, smoking)
- High blood pressure
Diagnosis of Diabetic Neuropathy
Diabetic neuropathy is diagnosed based upon medical history and a physical examination of the feet. During an examination, there may be signs of nerve injury, including:
- loss of the ability to sense vibrations and movements in the toes or feet (e.g., when the toe is moved up pr down).
- loss of the ability to sense pain, light touch, and temperature in the toes or feet.
- loss or reduction of the Achilles tendon reflex.
More extensive testing, including nerve conduction studies, nerve biopsy, or imaging tests (eg, x-ray or CT scan), is not usually needed to diagnose diabetic neuropathy.
Also read: Physiology of the Heart