Tips for Treating Diabetic Nerve Pain

Diabetes can cause long-term problems throughout your body, especially if you don’t control your blood sugar effectively, and sugar levels remain high for many years.

One complication of diabetes is diabetic neuropathy. This can cause numbness or tingling in your fingers, toes, hands, and feet. Another symptom is a burning, sharp, or aching pain (diabetic nerve pain). The pain may be mild at first, but it can get worse over time and spread up your legs or arms. Walking can be painful, and even the softest touch can feel unbearable.

About 50% of people with diabetes experience diabetic neuropathy and  25% can experience pain. Nerve damage can affect your ability to sleep, decrease your quality of life, and can also cause depression.

Symptoms of Diabetic neuropathy

Symptoms will vary depending on which nerves are affected. Small nerves protect your body by sending signals about pain and temperature changes to your brain, whereas large nerves detect touch and pressure and help you keep your balance. The most common symptoms with Diabetic Neuropathy are:

1. Numbness

Numbness in the hands and feet is a type of sensory neuropathy and affects the large nerve fibers. People can also experience numbness in the legs and arms.

2. Burning and Tingling in Feet

Tingling or burning in the feet, also referred to as dysesthesia, occurs when the small nerve fibers are affected. This is the most common early symptom of neuropathy.

3. Shooting Pain and Painful Cramps

This type of neuropathy affects the motor nerves and is commonly associated with muscle weakness. Painful cramps that are felt in the legs, particularly when walking that cease when at rest.

4. Loss of Balance

Peripheral nerve injury can affect balance in people with diabetes and can increase the risk of falls.

5. Appearance of Deformity in Foot

Underlying neuropathy and trauma to the foot can lead to deformities of the foot, including hammertoes and bunions.

6. Injuries to Foot You Can’t Feel or Explain

When people with diabetes have a loss of sensation in their feet, they may not feel it when they injure themselves. An injury that is left untreated can cause a bigger issue, such as an ulcer or infection. It's important to wear proper shoes and avoid walking around barefoot.

7. Hot and Cold Sensitivity

Nerve damage can interfere with the body's ability to feel temperature. An inability to feel or sense heat can increase the risk of burns. If you have neuropathy that affects your ability to sense heat, avoid stepping directly into a hot tub; use your forearm to check the water or another part of your body that has sensation.

Nerve damage can also reduce blood flow to the feet and hands, making them feel cold or get cold more quickly.

The most important thing is to control your blood sugar so that your nerve damage doesn’t progress. Talk with your doctor about setting your blood sugar goal, and learn to monitor it.

Use diets, exercise, and medications to decrease your blood sugar to a healthier range. Monitor other health risks that can worsen your diabetes, such as your weight and smoking. Ask your doctor about effective ways to lose weight or quit smoking, if necessary.

A variety of physical exercises or physical therapy may be helpful in reducing pain from peripheral neuropathy.

This includes:

• weight training and strengthening
• functional exercises
• stretching

Different physical activities might work better for different people. Be sure to speak to your doctor about the best exercise for you based on your specific health and symptoms.

If you go to a physical therapist, choose a trusted professional who understands neuropathy, diabetes, or otherwise, and can help you work through physical therapy methods without further nerve damage. We offer this service on the Zanskar physiotherapy mobile app which you can checkout as well.

Proper attention to physical activity by an expert can prevent any further issues from occurring. Also keep in mind that physical therapy can soothe diabetic nerve pain, but not cure it.

Capsaicin cream can block pain signals using an ingredient found in hot peppers.

Research has found that applying capsaicin 0.075% cream to the affected area four times a day may help relieve pain by up to 50%.

Keeping your blood sugar under control to prevent nerve damage is the best way to avoid nerve pain. Follow your doctor’s advice for diet, exercise, and treatments if you already experience diabetic nerve pain.

Diabetic neuropathy doesn’t have any known cures. However, many treatments can help lessen the discomfort and pain caused by diabetic nerve pain, and your doctor can assist you in selecting one that works best for you.

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Medical Review: This article is written by Dr Nishtha Mittal (Senior Health Content Editor at Zanskar Health) and has been medically reviewed by the medical team at Zanskar Health. This article and its contents are provided for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice or professional services specific to you or your medical condition.