What do diabetic legs look like?

High blood sugar from diabetes damages small blood vessels and causes these brownish patches. These roundish, rough spots often appear on your shins.
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What does the skin of a diabetic look like?

Diabetes can cause changes in the small blood vessels. These changes can cause skin problems called diabetic dermopathy. Dermopathy often looks like light brown, scaly patches. These patches may be oval or circular.
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How do you get rid of diabetic legs?

How to prevent, treat, and relieve diabetic leg pain
  1. Use exercise to promote overall health. ...
  2. Eat a diabetic-friendly diet. ...
  3. Manage weight. ...
  4. Maintain appropriate blood sugar levels. ...
  5. Practice daily foot and leg care. ...
  6. Build healthier habits for compounded prevention. ...
  7. Try physical therapy.
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What can diabetes do to your legs?

Having diabetes can damage the nerves and blood vessels that supply your legs and feet. This puts affected people at increased risk of developing ulcers on the feet and legs which can become infected, and in the worst cases, develop gangrene (where the tissue dies, resulting in the need for amputation).
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How do you know if diabetes is affecting your feet?

Tingling, burning, or pain in your feet. Loss of sense of touch or ability to feel heat or cold very well. A change in the shape of your feet over time. Loss of hair on your toes, feet, and lower legs.
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Diabetics are prone to skin conditions



What does the start of diabetic feet look like?

Charcot's foot may start with redness, warmth, and swelling. Later, bones in your feet and toes can shift or break, which can cause your feet to have an odd shape, such as a “rocker bottom.” Charcot's foot can cause your feet to have an odd shape, such as a “rocker bottom.”
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What are 10 warning signs of diabetes?

Early signs and symptoms of diabetes
  • Frequent urination. When your blood sugar is high, your kidneys expel the excess blood sugar, causing you to urinate more frequently. ...
  • Increased thirst. ...
  • Fatigue. ...
  • Blurred vision. ...
  • Increased hunger. ...
  • Unexplained weight loss. ...
  • Slow healing cuts and wounds. ...
  • Tingling or numbness in the hands or feet.
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What are the 3 most common symptoms of undiagnosed diabetes?

The three most common symptoms of undiagnosed diabetes include:
  • Increased thirst (polydipsia) High blood sugar levels cause increased thirst.
  • Increased urination (polyuria) Needing to urinate more throughout the day. Urinating more often than usual at night.
  • Increased hunger (polyphagia)
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What are the 5 main symptoms of diabetic neuropathy?

Diabetic Polyneuropathy
  • Unusual sensations (paresthesias) such as tingling, burning or prickling.
  • Numbness and pain in the hands, legs and feet.
  • Weakness of the muscles in the feet and hands.
  • Sharp pains or cramps.
  • Extreme sensitivity to touch.
  • Insensitivity to pain or temperature changes.
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Is walking good for diabetic neuropathy?

Aims/hypothesis: Walking is recommended as an adjunct therapy to diet and medication in diabetic patients, with the aim of improving physical fitness, glycaemic control and body weight reduction.
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What does diabetic leg pain feel like?

Another symptom is a burning, sharp, or aching pain (diabetic nerve pain). The pain may be mild at first, but it can get worse over time and spread up your legs or arms. Walking can be painful, and even the softest touch can feel unbearable. Up to 50 percent of people with diabetes may experience nerve pain.
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What do diabetic ulcers look like on your legs?

The legs will typically be edematous, often with hyperpigmentation of the lower legs from chronic venous stasis. The skin around the ulcer is hyperpigmented. These ulcers are usually on or near the malleoli, usually the distal medial leg.
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What does metformin do to your legs?

A lack of this B vitamin can happen to anyone, but the risk is higher on metformin, especially over time. When you don't get enough, it can cause peripheral neuropathy, the numbness or tingling in your feet and legs that's already a risk with diabetes.
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How do you feel when your blood sugar is too high?

If your blood sugar level is too high, you may experience:
  1. Increased thirst.
  2. Frequent urination.
  3. Fatigue.
  4. Nausea and vomiting.
  5. Shortness of breath.
  6. Stomach pain.
  7. Fruity breath odor.
  8. A very dry mouth.
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What are the warning signs of prediabetes?

Symptoms
  • Increased thirst.
  • Frequent urination.
  • Increased hunger.
  • Fatigue.
  • Blurred vision.
  • Numbness or tingling in the feet or hands.
  • Frequent infections.
  • Slow-healing sores.
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What are the signs of diabetes in a woman?

Both men and women may experience the following symptoms of undiagnosed diabetes:
  • increased thirst and hunger.
  • frequent urination.
  • weight loss or gain with no obvious cause.
  • fatigue.
  • blurred vision.
  • wounds that heal slowly.
  • nausea.
  • skin infections.
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What are the warning signs of neuropathy?

Some of the symptoms that are most typical of first or early-stage neuropathy include the following:
  • Itchiness.
  • Tingling, prickling, or “pins-and-needles” sensation.
  • Burning sensations.
  • Sudden, intermittent “electric shock” pain.
  • Intermittent muscle spasms or cramping.
  • Hypersensitivity to touch or temperature.
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Where does diabetic neuropathy usually start?

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy usually first appears in the feet and legs, and may occur in the hands and arms later.
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What does the beginning of diabetic neuropathy feel like?

Diabetic neuropathy symptoms usually begin in the toes and work their way towards the head. The first symptoms you may experience are tingling and numbness in the toes or fingers. This may resemble the feeling of “pins and needles” when a foot that has fallen asleep begins to wake up.
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What can be mistaken for diabetes?

  • Alcoholism.
  • Alzheimer's Disease.
  • Amenorrhea.
  • Amyloidosis.
  • Anorexia Nervosa.
  • Bulimia Nervosa.
  • Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
  • Cirrhosis.
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How many times does a diabetic urinate?

Most people urinate four to seven times in a day. If you are making more trips to the bathroom, especially waking multiple times at night to go, it may be a sign that your kidneys are working overtime to flush out excess sugar in your blood.
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How long can you have diabetes without knowing?

Type 1 diabetes can develop quickly over weeks or even days. Many people have type 2 diabetes for years without realising because the early symptoms tend to be general.
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How do I know that I have diabetes?

A blood sample will be taken after an overnight fast. A fasting blood sugar level less than 100 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L) is normal. A fasting blood sugar level from 100 to 125 mg/dL (5.6 to 6.9 mmol/L) is considered prediabetes. If it's 126 mg/dL (7 mmol/L) or higher on two separate tests, you have diabetes.
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What it feels like to have diabetes?

What are the most diabetes common symptoms? No individual is the same. The symptoms you experience won't exactly match those of another person. However, the most common diabetes symptoms experienced by many people with diabetes are increased thirst, increased urination, feeling tired and losing weight.
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Can you see sugar in urine?

Urine tests only detect very high blood sugar. This is because the body doesn't generally get rid of sugar in urine if someone's blood sugar levels are normal or slightly high.
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