Doctor, I've been numb in both legs for the last three months, what's going on, it can't be a stroke, right? Ms. Yi, 62, consulted a doctor.
The doctor told Ms. Yi that stroke generally causes numbness in one limb, usually not on both sides, and you have a history of type 2 diabetes for 10 years.
Eventually, Ms. Yi was diagnosed with diabetic peripheral neuropathy, which is the most common chronic complication of diabetes mellitus, a group of peripheral neuropathy with sensory and autonomic symptoms as the main clinical manifestations. The main symptoms it causes are numbness, pain, and paresthesias in both limbs.
59-year-old Ms. Song is also a diabetic patient, in the past month, she always has calf soreness and cramps, after the hospital examination, the doctor found that Ms. Song's lower limb blood vessels have a more serious atherosclerosis, in the final analysis, it is Ms. Song's blood sugar long-term poor control caused by vascular complications.
As a doctor, whenever you meet a diabetic patient, you will advise them to monitor their legs more when they monitor their blood sugar dynamically, because once diabetes complications come, they often manifest first in the leg abnormalities.
1. Pay attention to whether there is abnormal edema in the legs
Many diabetic patients have swollen legs inexplicably, and press down with their hands, one by one, and when they encounter this situation, they should be alert to the occurrence of diabetic nephropathy.
Diabetic nephropathy will lead to the loss of urine protein and abnormal kidney function, as time goes by, more and more protein in the urine, the albumin in the blood will become low, and the kidney function will become more and more abnormal, which will lead to an increase in urea nitrogen and creatinine, the metabolic waste in the body can not be discharged, and water and sodium retention will cause abnormal edema of the legs.
2. Pay attention to observe whether there is abnormal numbness, pain and paresthesia in the legs
For diabetic patients, once there is abnormal numbness, pain and paresthesia in both legs, we must be highly vigilant that diabetes has damaged the nerves, if not intervened in time, the nerve damage will become more and more serious, and the patient's discomfort symptoms will naturally become more and more obvious.
3. Pay attention to observe whether there is abnormal soreness and cramps in the legs
Long-term poor blood sugar control also has varying degrees of damage to the blood vessels of the lower limbs, the most common of which is to cause atherosclerosis, resulting in narrowing or even occlusion of blood vessels.
If atherosclerosis is severe, it often causes abnormal soreness and cramps in the lower limbs, and some patients will also have abnormal claudication of the lower limbs, and more severely, complete occlusion of the arteries, which will cause the formation of acute thrombosis, and the patient may have cold, swollen, severe pain, and cyanosis on one or both limbs.
4. Pay attention to whether there is any skin abnormality on the legs
For diabetic patients, if the blood sugar is not well controlled, the skin of the legs will also change, such as itching of the skin of the legs, cracked skin of the legs, or pigmentation of the skin of the legs.
Once skin abnormalities occur, it is also necessary to be alert to the appearance of complications, especially vascular and nerve complications.