Diabetes can mean double trouble for your feet. First, diabetes can reduce blood flow to your feet, depriving your feet of oxygen and nutrients. This makes it more difficult for blisters, sores, and cuts to heal. And second, the diabetic nerve damage called peripheral neuropathy can cause numbness in your feet. When you can't feel cuts and blisters, you're more likely to get sores and infections.

When diabetes gets out of control, it can take a toll on your body. Too much sugar in your blood can damage nerves and blood vessels, which can lead to many different types of problems.

What Is It?

Nerve damage, what doctors call neuropathy, is a common complication of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Peripheral means the nerves in your feet, hands, legs, or arms are affected. Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) can feel like tingling, burning, pins and needles, stabbing, or even numbness. If you're also overweight or have high blood pressure, high triglyceride levels, or plaque buildup in your heart's arteries, your odds of DPN go up.