Very often, the negative consequences of diabetes appear on the legs. The likelihood of such an outcome increases for elderly patients. There is no simple way to get rid of leg problems yet, so you will have to make a lot of effort for treatment and, of course, adhere to all medical prescriptions. If you do not pay due attention to preventive actions and treatment, you can easily lose your toes or even your entire foot.
Many people are concerned about the question: why do my legs hurt with diabetes? This disease often leads to the development of atherosclerosis, in which narrowing of blood vessels occurs. The tissues of the legs experience a lack of blood and signal this through pain.
In total, there are 2 scenarios that lead to leg problems:
Elevated glucose levels affect the nerves, which leads to loss of the ability to feel touch in the legs, as well as pain, pressure, and cold. If a patient injures his legs, he simply does not feel it. Most diabetics suffer from sores and ulcers on their feet that heal very slowly. Even if the foot is dislocated or broken, it will be practically painless for a person. Photos of wounds and spots on the legs indicate the seriousness of such injuries.
The described symptoms are characteristic of diabetic foot syndrome. Since there is no pain, many patients do not attach much importance to their problems. Such indifference often leads to infections and trophic ulcers, which can then lead to gangrene of the leg.
When pain in the legs occurs, a completely justified question arises: what to do to prevent the development of irreparable consequences?
Treatment can be carried out in several areas:
Special podiatrists deal with diabetic foot syndrome. Wound treatment involves surgically debridement of the lesions to prevent the development of gangrene. After this, specialists work to restore normal functioning of the blood vessels.
At the initial stage of diabetes mellitus, swelling of the legs is relieved after resting in a horizontal position or a short massage. The main condition for maintaining healthy feet can be considered a set of preventive procedures:
Diabetics often have cold feet. To keep them warm, you should use wool socks.
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Diabetes mellitus in the legs is very long and difficult to treat, since blood flow is disrupted during the development of the disease. Often blisters and trophic ulcers lead to the development of gangrene due to infection getting into the wounds. It is not uncommon for wet gangrene to develop on the feet, and only amputation of the limb can help get rid of it.
We recommend that diabetics regularly take care of their feet and examine the condition of their skin so that, if necessary, they can treat any wounds or cracks that appear and prevent germs from entering. Patients often complain about cold feet and wonder whether it is possible to steam them in hot water. Doctors do not advise doing this under any circumstances, as the consequences can be negative. Advanced cases may result in the need for amputation. If symptoms appear, you should seek medical help and do not self-medicate.
Diabetics often suffer from problems related to the health of their feet, which either begin to hurt or lose sensation. In any case, only a doctor can determine how to treat this disease. You should not neglect problems with your legs and be indifferent to their health, as this can lead to irreversible consequences - gangrene and amputation of a limb.
You should not use electric heating pads to warm your feet or warm yourself near a radiator or fireplace. Due to poor sensitivity of the limbs, the patient may suffer burns.
One of the common complications is swelling, because... Almost all patients diagnosed with diabetes face this problem. Therefore, many are interested in how leg swelling in diabetes is treated. We must understand that these manifestations will not disappear on their own. In the absence of adequate therapy, this condition can cause the development of extremely undesirable consequences, including the need for amputation of problematic limbs.
If the patient notices the appearance of edema, then there is no delay in visiting a doctor. After all, this is a dangerous condition in which the patient must provide proper care for the limbs. If this complication develops, you should immediately begin to look for possible causes of edema. In most cases, the following factors lead to their appearance:
Diabetes mellitus may impair blood circulation in the lower extremities. Because of this, the vessels are injured, the plasma passes through the damaged walls and enters the intercellular space. This is how swelling is formed.
In diabetic neuropathy, under the influence of high concentrations of glucose, the nerve endings are damaged and eventually die. In this condition, a person ceases to feel pain, signs of fatigue, and a rise in temperature. The patient can see swelling only visually; he may not feel that ulcers, suppuration, or abrasions have formed on the skin. Because of this, damaged areas can become infected.
Angiopathy is characterized by the fact that in diabetes all blood vessels are damaged, but the legs suffer the most. At the same time, when such swelling appears, the skin loses its elasticity. Damages and cracks appear on it.
If the legs swell with type 2 diabetes , then the patient should be examined by an endocrinologist and a vascular surgeon. Doctors determine the extent of damage to the limbs and prescribe treatment. At the same time, patients are given recommendations for care. If necessary, treatment procedures can be carried out in a hospital setting in special treatment rooms.
The patient may suspect the development of this complication of diabetes even before the appearance of significant edema. For most people, any circulatory disorders are accompanied by the appearance of certain symptoms. You should be wary of:
If you have these symptoms (even several of them), you should visit an endocrinologist; you should not wait for your leg to swell. He can make a referral to a vascular specialist. Timely treatment and preventive and therapeutic procedures can prevent the occurrence of serious edema.
People suffering from diabetes need to know how to prevent complications from developing. They need to actively moisturize the skin of their feet with creams. Their actions should be aimed at preventing dry skin.
In addition, patients with diabetes should know what else needs to be done:
In addition, experts recommend inspecting your shoes daily. If the insoles rupture or cracks appear on the inner surface, a replacement should be selected. After all, this increases the risk of leg injury.
To warm your feet, doctors advise wearing warm socks and wrapping your feet. It is not advisable to use dry heat (for example, heating pads). This is justified by the fact that patients have reduced sensitivity: they may not feel overheating, and this can lead to burns.
When a patient is admitted with complaints of discomfort in the legs, the doctor should not immediately prescribe drugs to treat swelling. First you need to conduct an examination. It consists in:
Depending on the results, the doctor may prescribe treatment or advise focusing on preventive procedures. In addition to this you will have to:
If the legs have increased in size, then swelling is easy to determine. It is necessary to press your finger (with a pad, not a nail!) on the area of hardening. With swelling, a hole forms at the site of pressure, which disappears in 20-30 seconds.
The necessary therapy is prescribed by an endocrinologist together with a vascular surgeon. These doctors can tell you how to relieve swelling and prevent its formation in the future.
If necessary, medications are prescribed to lower the concentration of glucose in the blood. At the same time, patients should monitor their condition and regularly measure their sugar.
Treatment is aimed at stimulating blood circulation, because it is because of its disruption that swelling appears. Diuretics are prescribed to minimize swelling in any part of the body. Medicines for leg swelling due to diabetes also include medications designed to lower blood pressure.
The diet must be strictly followed. Patients need to perform feasible physical activity. But it should be remembered that overexertion and excessive fatigue are prohibited.
Diabetics can try to normalize the condition with the help of herbs. You should first consult with an endocrinologist. Healers advise using ginseng root, oats, St. John's wort, and cayenne pepper.
If you find wounds on swollen legs, you need to ensure that they heal. They can be treated with Furacilin, Dioxidin, Chlorhexidine. Doctors prohibit applying iodine, alcohol or brilliant green to swollen, damaged legs. Using them will only dry out your skin even more.
Patients should remember that it is possible to get rid of edema and prevent its occurrence if you follow all the prescribed medical recommendations. Drug treatment alone will not be enough.
Diabetes mellitus is a serious disease that affects various systems of the body. For these reasons, the work of various organs is disrupted. The disease also affects the lower extremities, which can cause leg spasms.
In diabetes, the peripheral nervous system of the legs is affected, which leads to severe pain in the area:
The pain lasts quite a long time. Often they remind you of themselves at night or late in the evening. Unpleasant sensations may manifest as tingling and goosebumps in the legs.
Note! Diabetics may experience cramps in the calf muscles after walking for a long time. Most often they remind you of themselves at night.
In severe diabetes mellitus, other symptoms may develop. Such signs have more dangerous manifestations that can lead to serious consequences.
In addition, cramps are often accompanied by strong, penetrating pain. And even after the pain stops, the leg muscles retain increased sensitivity for a long time. As a rule, this phenomenon is characteristic of diabetes mellitus of the second and sometimes type 1.
Naturally, with constant cramps that appear due to high blood sugar and hormonal imbalance, it is necessary to treat not the symptom, but the cause of the disease.
Therefore, a diabetic must adhere to simple, easy-to-remember rules in order to completely eliminate or alleviate the spasmodic manifestations that often remind themselves during night sleep.
So, if a leg cramp occurs, you need to do the following:
Important! For cramps that occur with diabetes, the body should always remain upright and the legs should be kept together.
In addition, to get rid of leg cramps you should do the following:
After eliminating muscle contractions, for preventive purposes it is useful to do a relaxing massage of the calf muscles of the lower extremities.
One of the most common causes of leg cramps is severe dehydration due to diabetes. But there are also many other factors that cause muscle contraction.
Muscle spasms can remind you in the summer heat, while staying in a sauna, in a hot bath, or during active physical activity. In this case, sweating increases and the patient’s body remains dehydrated.
Diabetics are susceptible to hypertension and the development of heart failure, so often the treatment of these ailments consists of prescribing diuretic medications.
These drugs can also become a factor in the occurrence of contractions in the lower legs at night due to the fact that a person does not receive the required amount of microelements.
Note! Deficiency of sodium, potassium and magnesium provokes the appearance of seizures. These elements are necessary for the natural contraction and reflexion of muscles and the further transmission of nerve impulses.
Other causes of seizures include:
In addition, the phenomena occur due to the reduced amount of formation and processing of adenosine triphosphoric acid. Therefore, all metabolic processes occurring in the legs deteriorate, as a result of which their relaxing ability is significantly reduced.
When blood viscosity changes, all metabolic processes become slower. Metabolism also stops in the event of pathological changes in blood vessels and muscle fatigue, which increases the number of contraction reflexes.
Moreover, leg cramps in diabetes mellitus can occur due to severe physical fatigue. So, this unpleasant phenomenon has a lot of reasons, starting with a lack of potassium and elevated body temperature and ending with stressful conditions.
Treatment of leg cramps in diabetes of any type involves physical therapy. But before you start doing any exercises, you should definitely go to see a specialist, because There are a number of contraindications for which physical activity is prohibited.
Treatment for excessive muscle contractions in the lower extremities is quite simple. To do this, you must follow a certain sequence of exercises:
Note! When performing the last exercise, you must ensure that the legs are straight at the knees and the movements of the feet are leisurely and circular.
If the malaise makes itself felt very quickly, then treatment should be carried out with extreme caution. In this case, you need to reduce the number of exercises performed.
After completing all the exercises, you need to walk around the room a little barefoot. This way, you can stretch your legs a little, which is important for diabetics. And in general, the whole complex is subject to the basic rules by which exercises are done for diabetes.
Moderate physical activity for diabetes can improve blood circulation in the lower extremities. In addition, such preventative treatment helps fuel the muscles with energy, thereby reducing the risk of frequent muscle contractions.
Today, it is difficult to imagine the treatment of various diseases of the lower extremities without the use of special compression hosiery that activates blood circulation.
Such clothing is an effective remedy not only for people suffering from diabetes, but its use is effective for varicose veins, thrombophlebitis and other ailments associated with the legs.
Note! Compression jersey, thanks to its unique capabilities that activate blood circulation, is an excellent fighter against cramps. It slowly and systematically reduces the number of seizures.
In addition, to prevent muscle spasms, you need to wear comfortable, comfortable shoes. You should choose shoes, shoes or boots that will not put pressure on your foot, thereby preventing the formation of trampling.
Diabetes mellitus is an insidious disease that provokes various painful manifestations for the patient. Most often, a pathological change in the functioning of the lower extremities is recorded. According to statistics, almost 30% of people suffering from endocrine system failure have severe pain in their legs.
It is important to understand that the appearance of such a symptom indicates long-term progression of the disease. Pain syndrome indicates serious complications and requires immediate treatment.
If your legs hurt with diabetes, this is most likely due to vasoconstriction and insufficient patency of the circulatory system due to the rapid development of atherosclerosis. This concomitant disease is characterized by a lack of oxygen and nutrients in the lower extremities, which provokes suffering for the patient.
You should also pay attention to the possibility of diabetic neuropathy. A constant excess of sugar in the blood causes negative changes in nerve endings. In this case, first there is numbness, loss of sensitivity, and then severe pain.
Complications of type 2 diabetes include angiopathy. Such damage to the entire vascular system usually occurs when the disease progresses for more than 10 years without adequate treatment. If therapeutic actions are not started in a timely manner, not only the legs, but also the heart may suffer. And this will lead to disability or death.
Often with diabetes, a combination of the above complications occurs. And this makes diagnosis much more difficult. You need to understand that timely seeking help from a medical facility can save lives. Self-diagnosis in this case is strictly prohibited.
It is very important not to miss the first manifestations of the pathology of the endocrine system, characterized by insufficiency of the hormone insulin. Treatment of the disease at an early stage is much more effective than treatment of advanced disease.
With diabetes, legs hurt in any condition. A painful symptom occurs both as a result of exercise and during night rest. When diagnosing, it is important not to confuse endocrine pathology with venosis or thrombophlebitis. A distinctive feature is ulcers, constant itching and inflammation of the skin.
The disease can only be diagnosed in a medical institution using special equipment. After examining, interviewing the patient and measuring blood pressure, the doctor prescribes additional hardware tests.
An experienced doctor can detect problem areas with normal palpation. The heart rate in the damaged area is felt much weaker due to disturbances in peripheral circulation.
The answer to the question of what to do if your legs hurt with diabetes depends on the identified primary source of the problem. The choice of therapeutic actions is based on the sources of pathology and the general health of the patient. There are two types of treatment:
You can prevent dangerous complications of diabetes by following simple recommendations from doctors and strictly monitoring your health. People at risk need to:
Many experts recommend performing sports exercises that tone up blood circulation for pain in the legs. But this method of improving the condition of blood vessels is not suitable for everyone. Before starting sports, you should consult your doctor. Only an endocrinologist can correctly draw up a schedule of therapeutic exercises.
But even after stabilizing the condition, you cannot relax. Diabetes mellitus is a deadly disease that requires constant monitoring. A healthy lifestyle should be the basis for fighting the disease. It is necessary to give up bad habits (especially smoking), maintain proper blood glucose levels with a balanced diet and spend more time in the fresh air.
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The rose is often called the queen of flowers for its beautiful delicate buds and persistent tart aroma. There are garden and indoor varieties of this plant, but all of them are distinguished by lush green foliage and a long flowering period.
Foot diseases in diabetes mellitus are quite common. This is due to the fact that one of the complications of diabetes is a change in the structure of the vascular wall and poor circulation.
The legs suffer first of all in diabetes mellitus, since as a result of upright walking, the worst outflow of blood comes from them. It is necessary to remember that diabetes mellitus is a disease associated with disturbances not only in the absorption of glucose, but also changes in other types of metabolism, in particular regarding cholesterol.
An increase in the cholesterol fraction in the blood, which forms plaques on the inner surface of blood vessels, further aggravates the pathological changes.
Leg pain in diabetes is a serious symptom. Therefore, patients, especially in old age, when age-related disorders are added to the pathological process, should especially carefully monitor the slightest signs. They are as follows:
1. The skin becomes dry, the top layer begins to peel off, and itching appears.
2. Its color changes - lesions with hyperpigmentation or lack of pigment begin to appear.
3. The hair on the limb turns gray and begins to fall out.
4. The skin becomes anemic and pale, and is cold to the touch.
5. Sometimes the opposite manifestations occur - the temperature in the areas of the skin of the leg rises, and they turn red.
As a result of long-term and uncontrolled diabetes, patients often develop a condition called diabetic neuropathy. This is a disease of the legs in diabetes, which manifests itself in the form of a disturbance in the transmission of nerve impulses.
Damage to the nerve fibers leads to impaired sensitivity, while the patient ceases to feel pain in case of traumatic damage to the lower extremities, and also does not feel a change in temperature. As a result, the likelihood of damage, burns or wounds to the leg with infection increases.
This syndrome occurs in 10% of diabetic patients. Such leg disease in diabetes with a high degree of probability ends in amputation of the limb. For this reason, at every consultation, a patient with a similar disease must be checked for the possibility of developing diabetic foot. In this condition, even a fracture in the leg is not felt by the patient.
Violation of the trophic function of blood vessels leads to the development of gangrenous lesions. At the same time, legs with diabetes change their color, become bluish, and then turn black. There are two types of gangrene. It can be dry, in which blockage of blood vessels occurs and the process can drag on for quite a long time, sometimes even several years.
If your legs hurt with diabetes, this phenomenon can be caused by wet gangrene; it occurs during the addition of an anaerobic infection. It develops rapidly, and as a result of neglect of the process, blood poisoning can occur. This acute condition can only be stopped by amputation of the limb.
When your legs hurt with diabetes, what should the patient do? This phenomenon may be a sign of the development of trophic ulcers. Its occurrence is associated with disturbances in venous and arterial blood flow. To help with this pathology, you should contact a vascular surgeon or phlebologist, not forgetting to mention that you have diabetes.
Read the article treatment of trophic ulcers in diabetes mellitus.
Why do my legs hurt if I have diabetes? This may be a manifestation of convulsive syndrome. Excessive amounts of sugar in the blood can cause cramps in diabetes. The reason for this is that glucose, excreted in the urine, pulls with it water and trace elements dissolved in it. Their deficiency in the blood leads to the development of convulsive syndrome.
Only careful monitoring of sugar using a glucometer and timely use of hypoglycemic drugs or insulin can help with this problem. It is recommended to eat foods that contain calcium and magnesium. Vitamin D supplements help in the absorption of these microelements. Dairy products should be avoided because the phosphorus they contain can worsen leg cramps in diabetes.
Many patients note that their legs hurt with diabetes; they ask what to do. To do this, you need to understand the cause of pain. Often, with a diagnosis such as diabetes, complications on the legs in the form of ulcerations or the development of gangrene are accompanied by pain. But it's not only that. Impaired blood flow through the vessels causes rapid fatigue, as muscle tissue does not receive enough nutrients and oxygen. This is why legs hurt when you have diabetes.
In order to alleviate the condition, you need to learn self-massage and do special exercises. Before starting, you should consult with your doctor about the advisability of carrying them out and the degree of load, since excessive efforts can also lead to an unfavorable result.
As it became obvious, complications arise if the disease is advanced. Therefore, leg pain in diabetes is a positive thing, since it forces the patient to immediately consult a doctor and begin full treatment.
If your legs hurt with diabetes, what should you do in this case? Firstly, you should prevent the condition from getting worse; for this you need to properly care for your feet:
• After hygiene procedures, it is recommended to wipe the skin with moisturizers.
• Only closed shoes should be worn.
• Avoid hypothermia or overheating of your feet.
It is also necessary to treat blood vessels in the legs for diabetes. In advanced cases, sometimes vascular surgery or amputation is required to save a person’s life.