Overview
Diabetic neuropathy is nerve damage caused by long-standing high blood sugar, most often affecting the feet and legs. It causes tingling, burning or numbness, and the loss of feeling is dangerous because a small foot injury can go unnoticed and turn into a serious ulcer or infection. This is why daily foot care and regular checks matter so much in diabetes. Good sugar control slows the damage, and treatments can ease the nerve pain.
Symptoms
- Tingling, burning or shooting pain in the feet and legs
- Numbness or reduced ability to feel pain, heat or cold
- A pins-and-needles or crawling feeling
- Foot ulcers or wounds that go unnoticed
- Weakness or balance problems in some people
When to see a doctor
See a doctor for foot tingling, burning or numbness if you have diabetes, and urgently for any foot wound, sore or colour change.
Emergency — call 108 or go to the nearest hospital
- A foot ulcer, blackening skin, spreading redness or a foul-smelling wound in a person with diabetes — seek care urgently
Causes
Long-standing high blood sugar that damages the nerves, worse with poor sugar control, long duration of diabetes, smoking and high blood pressure.