People with type 2 diabetes need to be aware of the sensation of tingling or numbness and a type of burning pain in their limbs. These are symptoms of peripheral neuropathy, or nerve damage.

This can be caused by:

• high blood sugar levels
• by high levels of fats in your blood, or
• by lack of oxygen and nutrients

When blood vessels are damaged by sugar and fat, they have difficulty carrying oxygen and nutrients to your nerves.

Neuropathy in your limbs, especially in your feet, can have serious consequences. Naturally lack of feeling in your feet, means you can’t feel pain. Blisters or cuts then go unnoticed and become infected, and due to poor circulation your blood has difficulty bringing healing antibodies and white blood cells to help heal the infection. Unfortunately, neuropathy is the leading cause of lower limb amputations in diabetics.

You are more likely to to develop neuropathy if you have poor control over your blood sugar or you have sustained high blood sugar levels.

Help Your Feet:

One way of taking care of you feet is by walking… this helps to improve poor blood circulation to your feet. When walking is painful, it is time to rest until the sensation passes, then get up and walk some more. With habitual walking, diabetics can gradually improve things to the point at which pain is minimized or gone. But your feet should be checked after each walking session.

Because feet are vulnerable, an estimated 15 per cent of people with diabetes will develop a serious foot problem at some time in their lives.

Watch out for:

Numbness, shooting pains, and a pins-and-needles type of pain in your feet… these are signs of nerve damage, or neuropathy. If this is the case taking some of these steps will help you:

• change your shoes and socks several times during the day… this will help you to make more visual inspections. This also minimizes your chances of getting blisters and infections… all shoes allow your feet to slide after three to four hours
• uncross your legs
• don’t wear tight elastic hose
• avoiding smoking will also help

Your health care practitioner may prescribe medications that will help the red blood cells pass through clogged arteries. Not all people with type 2 diabetes get small blood vessel disease in their feet, but this is a common site for it to appear.

Supplements:

No supplement or therapy is going to cure your neuropathy, but even a little bit of relief can make a big difference.

Alpha-lipoic acid is the number one choice for treating neuropathy and in addition, gamma-linolenic acid, part of a family of essential dietary fats, can also help with diabetes-related nerve damage.

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