When you have diabetes, you may experience leg pain. This might be because of nerve damage. Nerve damage can happen when a diabetic person doesn’t get treatment or isn’t able to effectively manage their own blood sugar levels. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) claims that over 30 million people in the United States live with diabetes. A lot of these people don’t even know they’ve got this condition, which puts them at an even higher risk of suffering complications like diabetes leg pain.
Diabetic people might end up experiencing numerous medical complications, especially if they don’t know how to keep their blood sugar levels under control. Diabetic neuropathy is one of the most common complications diabetics have to deal with. This medical condition involves nerve damage. Diabetic neuropathy can happen in different places in your body. However, it most commonly affects the arms and legs.
When nerve damage happens on the outer sides of the limbs, a doctor will call this specific condition diabetic peripheral neuropathy. With that said, here’s why you need to take it seriously when you have leg pains caused by your diabetes.
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Losing a Foot or Leg
Nerve damage can cause you to lose feeling in your feet, meaning even a minor cut can slowly turn into an ulcer or sore, unnoticed. In some more serious cases, an infection can escalate and lead to the death of tissue or spread all the way to the bone. Amputation (removal) of a foot or leg might be necessary in some situations. You can avoid this if you see a doctor if you’re a diabetic who’s experiencing severe arm or leg pains.
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Urinary Incontinence and Urinary Tract Infections
The bladder might not be able to completely empty itself when you’re urinating if the nerves controlling it have been compromised. Bacteria can then gather in the kidneys and bladder, leading to a urinary tract infection. Nerve damage can also negatively impact your ability to feel the need to take a leak or to control the bladder muscles responsible for releasing urine, hence leading to incontinence or leakage. You can easily avoid this scenario by treating your leg pain if you have diabetes.
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Digestive Issues
If you have nerve damage in your digestive tract, you may start to experience diarrhea or constipation. Nerve damage linked to diabetes can also cause gastroparesis, a medical condition where your stomach empties itself incredibly slowly and sometimes not even at all. This can then cause indigestion and bloating, which are two things no one enjoys. Taking the pain in your leg seriously can help you avoid this.
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Hypoglycemia Unawareness
A blood sugar level reading of less than 70 mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter) – 3 mmol/L (millimoles per liter) – normally causes sweating, shakiness and an increased heart rate. However, people who have autonomic neuropathy might not experience such symptoms. A great way to see if you’re one of these people is if you go see a medical professional if you’re diabetic and start feeling arm and leg pains.
Prevention
You can delay or prevent diabetic neuropathy and the medical complications that come with it by closely paying attention to sugar levels and ensuring your feet are in good shape. Consider getting your feet examined once or twice a year. You can also check your feet daily for swelling, redness, peeling and cracked skin, bruises, blisters, and cuts.
Ask a family member or friend to help you examine the places of your feet you can’t reach, or use a mirror if you don’t have anyone to help you. Also, always try to keep your feet dry and clean at all times.
