Hello, my name is Gregory. When I was a young lad, I had to enter the health care world in an unexpected way. I developed a serious disease out of the blue that took doctors by surprise. I went through so many different testing procedures before my doctors could diagnose the rare disease. Everyone around me reeled as they tried to understand the purpose and process of the diagnostic tests. I hope to help others understand these important tests better through this website. Please come by often to learn all you need to know about medical diagnostics and working closely with health care professionals.
Talking About Diagnostic Tests For Medical Care
Understanding And Easing The Pain Of Diabetic Neuropathy
Nanja Bongers
Exercise, a well-balanced diet, and regular checkups by your doctor are key tasks for a healthy lifestyle. However, millions of people develop dangerous medical conditions even when living healthy lifestyles. Diabetes is one of these medical conditions that can affect your everyday life, physical health, and emotional well-being. Treating the disease may require weight loss, a new diet, and medications, but you may also need to manage the physical and emotional side effects of diabetes.
An estimated 50 percent of patients living with type-1 and type-2 diabetes also develop neuropathy. Unfortunately, most people do not fully understand this condition. With this guide and your doctor's help, you will understand and know how to ease painful diabetic neuropathy.
What Is Diabetic Neuropathy?
Diabetic patients have high levels of blood sugar. This excess blood sugar damages nerve fibers, which can affect the hands, feet, and legs. Known as neuropathy, the nerve damage can be painful and debilitating. Here are a few symptoms of diabetic neuropathy:
- Uncomfortable tingling
- Numbness
- Burning sensations
- Sensitivity to touch, cold, and heat
- Pain
- Muscle weakness
- Inability to move hands, feet, legs
- Joint stiffness and pain
- Infections
- Excessive swelling of hands and feet
The overall pain and loss of mobility caused by neuropathy can affect your daily life. Not only will you struggle to complete basic tasks each day, but you may also feel enormous stress, anxiety, and even depression due to the pain.
Healthcare
Healing from neuropathy will require treating or managing your diabetes. In most cases, this will involve diet and exercise to reduce your weight, prescription medications, or insulin injections. Be sure to discuss these options fully with your doctor.
While managing your disease, you will need to properly care for your hands and feet. Proper care of your hands, feet, and legs will ease your pain while also reducing your risk of infections.
After bathing and showering, dry your hands, feet, and legs completely. Do not leave water in between your fingers or toes, since this moisture will eventually irritate your skin.
Neuropathic nerve damage decreases feeling in your hands, feet, and legs, so you may not realize you have cuts and other wounds on these limbs. While drying off, inspect your hands, feet, and legs for cuts, scrapes, spots, scratches, and even infected or ingrown toenails. These issues may be minor, but they can spread into life-threatening infections if left untreated. Be sure to clean and cover any wounds and contact your doctor to determine if cuts and scratches require antibiotic treatment.
After drying, moisturize your skin with a lotion that contains vitamin E. Vitamin E is an effective ingredient for restoring dry, irritated skin back to a healthy state. Also, massaging your hands, feet, and legs with lotion will improve your blood circulation. This improved blood flow will decrease inflammation in your body, helping ease away your neuropathy pain.
Wear compression socks on your feet while sleeping, as well. Compression socks also help improve blood circulation, reducing inflammation and pain.
Lastly, talk to your doctor about wearing orthotic shoes. Available by prescription, this specialized footwear is essential for protecting your feet and improving mobility while living with diabetic neuropathy. Shoes are designed to alleviate pressure on damaged, painful areas of your foot, stabilizing your foot and ankle to improve mobility, and limiting joint motion to improve circulation. To learn more about orthotics, check out websites like http://www.citruschiropracticgroup.com.
Living with diabetes is possible, but the neuropathic pain can cause a great deal of discomfort. Proper understanding can help you ease the pain of this common medical condition. Learning more about this painful, immobilizing disorder is possible with this guide and the help of your doctor.
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