Circulation: Diabetics are at a high risk of bad or poor circulation of the legs and feet and can be prone to peripheral vascular disease, sometimes known as peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Most common symptoms are mild to severe pain while walking and mild to severe pain while resting, claudication, which is pain, weakness, numbness, or cramping in the calf, thigh and buttock muscles due to the decreased blood flow and the stiffening of the vessel walls. Other signs can be thickening of the toenails, color change in the skin to a blue or paleness, thinning of the skin, resulting in a shiny appearance which can be easily injured and cut and takes a longer time to heal and possibly have little hair growth, around the lower leg for instance.

This is due to the reduced flow of blood to the feet, that restricts oxygen and vital nutrients from repairing the tissue.  If you are a smoker, it is though that you may have a 30% increased possibility of amputation within 5 years, but this has yet to be confirmed. Diabetics are more likely to be admitted to hospital with a foot ulcer than any other diabetic complications but the quicker you get help the sooner you can be treated, thus avoiding even more problems.

Being diabetic, you are more susceptible to infections, especially if you diabetes is poorly controlled or if neuropathy is present. This is because you may not notice that there is an infection until it is escalating due to deficiencies in our white blood cells to defend against infections and bacteria.