I am curious what the symptoms are in the feet when it is diabetic related. I have swelling in one foot and a very MILD soreness if I put pressure on the foot in the other. The swelling bothers me though because it's been going on for over a year now. It does hurt to bend the foot at thye toes. Someone had mentioned that it could be a back problem, which I have Chronic low back and hip pain on that same side of the swollen foot. It's not red or anything but it is puffy and you can see where my slide shoes have been. I was just curious as to what you all think. Thanks! :wave:

Someone else may be able to answer better than I, but I'll give it a shot. To the best of my knowledge, diabetes related foot problems are typically caused by peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage), resulting from diabetes that has either not been well controlled, or from having diabetes for a long period of time.

Over the years, as nerve damage worsens, feet can become numb, burning, tingling, painful, sore, and deformed. One of the biggest problems is that when the feet become numb, they are subject to sores and ulcerations that go untreated, and get quite severe (because the person was unaware of the sore due to numbness). These ulcerations can get so badly infected that they cannot be treated, leading to amputations. This is the primary reason that diabetics are urged to take care of their feet.

Swelling of the feet is also quite common when there is kidney or liver disease - this can result from diabetes, or not. But typically this would cause both feet to swell, not just one (and perhaps other parts of the body as well). In this case the swelling is actually edema (fluid retention) caused by a malfunctioning metabolism due to weakened kidney or liver function.

Could your problems be related to diabetes? I suppose they could, for example, if you had peripheral neuropathy it may cause you to walk out of alignment, or cause you to not feel harm you were doing to your feet. But drawing that line seems like a far stretch to me, especially if you have no other symptoms.

There are simple blood tests that can be done to determine if you are diabetic. There are also symptoms associated diabetes such as excessive thirst and frequent urination. I don't believe sore feet is considered a symptom, but rather a possible long-term result.

Because you do have back and hip pain, it sounds like this is related to a muscle or spinal injury. Spinal compression can cause severe pain all over your body, including the feet. Do you have any trigger points (really sore spots on your body that are excruciating to the touch)? Trigger points are nerve endings that send you referred pain signals. They really hurt, but its because something else is wrong in another part of the body. Common trigger points are on the chest wall, top of your shoulders, inside of the knees, and in a variety of locations on the back. You will know if you have a trigger point because the lightest touch will make you scream! Trigger points can help doctors (the right doctors!) identify the cause of your problem. I recommend that you see a podiatrist or a really good chiropractor.

I don't think that I have any trigger points that are unbearable but like I've said, I have the chronic low back and hip pian on that same side.

You do realize you need to take your questions to a doctor, I hope. Good luck.

I have talked to MANY Dr's and no one seems to care or have the knowledge that I need. That's why I come here to get some ideas that maybe I can take to the Dr.s and hopefully get some answers.

I shoulda' known, you'd already tried doctors, and you're right that web searches, not necessarily us but web searches, can get you what you want.

Then doctors may be sensitive about the fact you found it and they didn't know it. Yup, we've been there.

Somewhere I read about some herbal oils people anoint their feet with for neuropathy, but I can't find it again. I've got it too, see. And some say B vitamins help, including a new one there's a thread about here.