Damage to small blood vessels can occur in the eyes and kidneys of people with diabetes. At first, there may be no outward symptoms but damage to blood vessels can lead to blindness and kidney disease. Your health care practitioner can check for symptoms of these complications during your regular office visits. Most often, nerve damage affects the feet and legs. Symptoms of nerve damage include loss of feeling, tingling, burning, or pain in the feet and legs, and sometimes the hands.
Serious problems can occur in people who have nerve and blood vessel damage in the legs or feet.
They may not feel a blister or a small cut on the foot. The blister or cut may become infected, which may sometimes lead to amputation. No one can tell who will have diabetes complications. But experts think that keeping blood-sugar levels close to normal helps to prevent or delay trouble. Good control of blood sugar may help delay some complications.