Diabetic Neuropathy - Diagnosis
Signs and Syptoms -
updated: 15 March 2008
People with diabetes commonly develop temporary or permanent damage to nerve tissue. Nerve injuries are caused by decreased blood flow and high blood-sugar levels, and are more likely to develop if blood-sugar levels are not controlled well.
Symptoms
Damage to a peripheral nerve can interfere with the communication between the area it serves and your brain, affecting your ability to move certain muscles or feel normal sensations. Your symptoms will depend on the cause of your neuropathy and on which nerve or nerves are involved.
If a sensory nerve is damaged, you're likely to experience symptoms that may include:
- Pain
- Numbness
- Tingling
- Muscle weakness
- Burning
- Loss of feeling
These symptoms often begin gradually. You may have a tingling sensation or numbness that starts in your toes or the balls of your feet and spreads upward. Tingling might also begin in your hands and extend up your arms. In some cases your skin may become so sensitive that the slightest touch is agonizing. You may also have numbness, or even a complete lack of feeling, in your hands or feet.
At times your symptoms may be barely noticeable, and some people go years without realizing anything is wrong. For others, symptoms are constant, and especially at night may be almost unbearable. Signs and symptoms may include:
- The sensation that you're wearing an invisible glove or sock
- Burning pain
- Sharp, jabbing or electric-like pain
- Extreme sensitivity to touch, even light touch
- Lack of coordination
your motor nerves are affected, you may have weakness or paralysis of the muscles controlled by those nerves. And if you have damage to nerves that control certain functions of the autonomic nervous system, you might have bowel or bladder problems, reduced sweating or impotence. You might also experience a sharp fall in your blood pressure when you stand up, which may cause you to faint or feel lightheaded.
Signs and Tests
Physical examination, including neurological and sensory tests, may reveal many neuropathies. A common early finding is the absence of ankle reflexes.Health care providers often test for loss of sensation in the feet with a brush-like instrument called a monofilament.
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