Diabetes Dermatology

Diabetes can affect numerous parts of your body, including your skin. When diabetes affects the skin, it’s often a caution sign that your blood glucose levels are too high.

The following infections on your skin are warning signs of pre-diabetes or diabetes. Most skin problems are harmless, but indeed a minor one can become serious in individuals who have diabetes.

1. Yellow, reddish, or brown patches on your skin

This skin condition frequently starts as a small pimple. As it advances, these bumps (pimples) turn into patches of swollen and hard skin. The patches can be yellow, reddish, or brown. You may also notice that the surrounding skin has a shiny porcelain-like appearance; it will be itchy and painful. This condition in medical terms is called as necrobiosis lipodica.

2. Hard, thickening skin

Hard skin develops on the fingers, toes, or both, and the medical name for this condition is digital sclerosis. On the hands, you’ll take note tight, waxy skin on the backs of your hands. The fingers can become stiff and troublesome to move. In case diabetes has been ineffectively controlled for a long time, it can feel like you've got stones in your fingertips. Thick, hard, and swollen-looking skin can spread, showing up on the forearms and upper arms. It can also develop on the shoulders, neck and upper back. Sometimes, the thickening skin may spreads to the face, shoulders, and chest. In uncommon cases, the skin over the ankles, knees, or elbows too hardens, making it difficult to straighten your leg or twist your arm.

3. Darker area of skin

A dark patch of smooth skin on the back of your armpit, neck, groin, crotch, or somewhere else seems that you have too much insulin in your blood. This skin condition is called as acanthosis nigricans. AN is often a sign of prediabetes.

4. Blisters

It’s uncommon, but individuals with diabetes can see blisters all of a sudden appear on their skin. They may experience a group of blisters, a large blister, or both. The blisters tend to appear on the hands, legs, feet, or forearms and these blisters are not painful. The medical name for this condition is bullosis diabetricorum. Sometimes, it’s called diabetic bullae.

5. Skin infections

Individuals with diabetes tend to get skin infections. Theses skin infection includes the following: Hot, swollen skin that is painful, an itchy rash and in some cases tiny blisters, a white discharge, or a dry scaly skin. Theses can occur on any area of your body, counting around one or more of your nails, between your toes, and on your scalp.

6. Open sores and wounds

Having high blood sugar for a long time can lead to destitute circulation and nerve damage. In case diabetes has been ineffectively controlled for a long time, individuals may experience these conditions. Poor circulation and nerve damage can make it difficult for your body to heal wounds. This is particularly true on the feet. These open wounds are called diabetic ulcers.

7. Outbreak of small, reddish-yellow bumps

When these bumps appear, they soon get a yellowish color. Individuals with diabetes usually find these bumps on the thighs, buttocks, crooks of the elbows, or backs of the knees. They can shape anyplace though. No matter where they form, they are usually delicate and itchy. The medical name for this skin condition is eruptive xanthomatosis.

8. Extremely, dry itchy skin

In case you have got diabetes, you’re more likely to have dry skin. High blood sugar can cause this. If you have a poor circulation or skin infection these could also contribute to dry, itchy skin.

9. Yellowish scaly patches

Individuals have high fat levels in their blood may develop yellowish scaly patches on and around their eyelids. It can also be a caution sign that their diabetes is ineffectively controlled. The medical term for this condition is xanthelasma.