What does numbness and tingling feel like with type 2 diabetes?

You may feel pins and needles, burning, buzzing, electric shocks, or reduced sensation in the toes, soles, fingers, or hands. Some people notice that socks or bedsheets feel irritating, while others do not feel heat, cold, pressure, or a small injury normally. Symptoms may affect both sides and can be more noticeable at night. These changes may reflect diabetic nerve damage, but numbness and tingling can also have other causes, so a clinician should assess new symptoms.

Look at your feet every day for cracks, blisters, cuts, swelling, or colour change. Wear shoes that fit comfortably, avoid walking barefoot, and test water with an area that has normal feeling. Do not place heating devices directly against numb skin. Keep diabetes appointments, take prescribed treatment as directed, and tell your clinician if sensations spread, disturb sleep, or affect walking.

Seek prompt medical help for a foot wound, burn, spreading redness, warmth, swelling, discharge, fever, or rapidly worsening numbness. Call emergency services for sudden one-sided numbness with facial drooping, weakness, speech trouble, confusion, or severe imbalance. A new wound deserves attention even when it is not painful.

Could these symptoms be nerve damage or another problem? How should my feet be examined? What glucose-management goals and treatments are appropriate? Which changes require urgent contact?