Diabetic Nerves

Diabetic neuropathy is a special type of nerve damage that occurs particularly in diabetics.  What happens is that the nerves are damaged badly enough that it becomes hard to carry messages to the brain and other areas of the body.  It can be very painful and hard to live with.  Some common symptoms of diabetic neuropathy are muscle weakness and difficulty with walking.  Many times the diabetic will experience sores, cuts, and blisters on their feet that aren’t painful due to the nerves’ inability to transport the feeling of pain from the foot to the brain.

What is the cause of diabetic neuropathy?

When your sugar levels are higher than normal, it damages the nerves and blood vessels overtime.  This is one of the reasons why it is very important you keep your blood sugar levels under control.  People who are unable to control their blood sugar levels are at high risk of getting diabetic neuropathy.  People with cholesterol problems such as high cholesterol and those who smoke also put themselves at high risk, and men are more likely to have diabetic neuropathy than women.

Can you avoid getting diabetic neuropathy?  There is no simple answer.  What you can do is to take care of your diabetes.

• The most important thing is to keep your blood sugar levels under control.
• A healthy diet and weight loss are two of the biggest ways to reduce your chances of reaching the stage of diabetic neuropathy.
• Exercise is also an important factor in keeping your sugar levels at bay.
• You need to take any medication, insulin or other prescriptions that your doctor prescribes as directed and make sure you do not miss your medical dosage.
• What it comes down to is keeping yourself as healthy as possible, follow your doctor’s directions and keeping your sugar levels consistent are ways to avoid diabetic neuropathy.

Physical Therapy Can Help. No matter how you look at it, diabetic neuropathy is not a pretty thing.  It can be painful, it can be deadly and it can’t be cured.  If you’re already a diabetic, this is a wake-up call to listen to the professionals so you don’t end up with any of these problems we’ve listed.