Diabetic Nerve Pain: It's Not Just in Your Feet

For people with diabetes, nerve pain can be a serious problem. Would you recognize the symptoms of diabetic nerve pain?

Nearly 21 million Americans have diabetes, and at least six out of 10 of them have some kind of nerve damage, called diabetic neuropathy, says the American Diabetes Association (ADA).

Nerve pain or numbness can happen in anywhere in your body - not just in your feet - although that's a common spot if you're over 40.

Nearly one in three people over age 40 with diabetes have lost some feeling in their feet, says the ADA. A little numbness sound like a minor problem? Actually, it's major. Amputation, having a toe, foot, or lower leg surgically removed, is 10 times more likely in people with diabetes.

Just as dangerous are symptoms of neuropathy that go unnoticed, dismissed, or simply aren't seen as diabetes-related. "A good example is when a person is at rest, perfectly calm and comfortable, and yet the heart's racing," says Dace L. Trence, MD, an endocrinologist and director of the Diabetes Care Center at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. "Or people lose sensation - this is probably what we fear the most - and can't tell they're having chest pain."

If you can no longer feel the symptoms of a heart attack or blood sugar drops, it can be a sign that the autonomic nerves that send signals to and from your organs have been damaged by diabetes. "When I tell people about this, I talk about the involuntary nervous system," says Trence. "Either the signaling is overly disrupted, as with pain, or it goes in the other direction, where you no longer appreciate any pain or sensation whatsoever."

You may wonder: If you have peripheral neuropathy, is it typical to have some autonomic neuropathy, too? "There isn't anything typical about it at all," Trence tells WebMD. You could have one or the other, or you could have both." That's why knowing the range of symptoms of neuropathy is a key step in taking care of yourself and managing your diabetes.

Symptoms of Peripheral Neuropathy In Your Feet and Hands

If you have diabetes, you may be all-too-familiar with nerve pain and damage in your feet, legs, and hands, called peripheral neuropathy. Your peripheral nerves serve the farthest reaches - the periphery - of your body.

The nerves to your feet are the longest in your body, and they're often the first to be affected. (Nerve pain, numbness, and muscle weakness can also appear in your hips, thighs, and buttocks, called proximal neuropathy, making it hard to walk.

Do you have:

• Tingling or burning in your toes, feet, legs, fingers, hands, or arms?
• A "pins and needles" feeling?
• Pain or cramping?
• Numbness or loss of sensation?
• Insensitivity to heat and cold?
• Extreme sensitivity to even the lightest touch?
• Muscle weakness in your hands or feet?
• Loss of coordination or balance that makes it harder to walk?