People with diabetes often develop symptoms of pain and muscle weakness, especially in the feet. Foot deformities and foot pain frequently result if symptoms are not promptly treated. If you are diabetic and suffering with pain in your legs, feet or hands, you should know:
1. The pain likely comes from the nerve (neuropathy).
According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, neuropathy affects 60 to 70 percent of all people with diabetes. The causes of neuropathy will differ in patients, but researchers and physicians alike agree that exposure to high blood glucose counts is likely a factor.
2. The problem could be from small nerve fibers, large nerve fibers, or a combination of both.
One third of patients with neuropathy have chronic nerve compressions of the large fibers. Excess glucose causes the nerves to swell and they become “entrapped” at certain places in the leg and foot.
Understanding the type of nerve involvement with diabetic nerve pain is imperative to successfully manage and reduce painful symptoms.
3. Numbness, tingling, pins and needles; these common symptoms allude to the existence of nerve damage.
4. The loss of sensation from nerve damage increases the risk of ulceration and maybe even amputation.
Pain can be a good thing. It can warn us when something is wrong. However, as neuropathy progresses, you may lose so much nerve function that you experience numbness and no longer get the proper clues to tell you a problem is developing.
5. Most doctors will tell you that there is no treatment, only pain medication.
At US Neuropathy Centers, we believe that pain management is just the tip of the iceberg for treatment. With 11 locations across the United States, our providers have real-world experience to help people affected by debilitating nerve pain. We keep up with ongoing research and development on effective, and efficient treatments, with the goal of developing the best care plans for suffering neuropathy patients.
Whether you’ve lived with nerve pain for years, months, or even days, US Neuropathy Centers can help. Our Centers gives patients more than just a single tier treatment plan; we give them their life back. Nerve decompression therapy is one of the most trusted treatments for nerve pain as it helps restore sensation while simultaneously prevents future complications. Research says that 15 percent of diabetic patients are expected to have foot ulceration. Only .3 percent of patients who receive decompression with restoration of sensation are at risk of ulceration.
Contact a US Neuropathy Centers near you, and come in for an expert evaluation of your diabetic nerve pain.
If you are suffering from neuropathy, please do not hesitate to call us at US Neuropathy Centers.
The advice and information contained in this article is for educational purposes only, and is not intended to replace or counter a physician’s advice or judgment. Please always consult your physician before taking any advice learned here or in any other educational medical material.
@US Neuropathy Centers, 2018
