 Have you been diagnosed with insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes? They may not even know that they have diabetes before they see these signs on their skin. Treating skin infections timely is very important, otherwise it may progress, it may be very difficult to treat, especially when you have... Today I'm talking about 12 signs of poor diabetes control or insulin resistance on your skin. Let's get into it. Have you been diagnosed with insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes? There are 12 signs that you have to look out for. Hi everyone, I'm Dr Ahmed Ergin, I'm an endocrinologist, I'm known as SugarMD. I'm a certified diabetes educator and endocrinologist seeing diabetic patients every day. Today we are talking about skin manifestations of diabetes or insulin resistance and as you know skin is one of the many organs that can be affected by diabetes. Diabetics who notice their skin being irritated by the diabetes may actually have high blood sugars due to uncontrolled diabetes or they may not even know that they have diabetes before they see these signs on their skin. Make sure you watch the entire video because I promise you will learn something new and amazing today that will come handy later. I hope you never have it but if you see on someone you may alert them. I'll give you a few tips about how to self-care about some of the conditions that I'm gonna talk about and they're gonna be spread around this video so you better watch entire video if you want to get all the tips and tricks. I'm sure you will appreciate to hear all these. Now it's important to see your diabetes doctor and dermatologist occasionally if you are seeing any of the following signs. Okay, number one, skin patches that are yellow, reddish or brown. In other words we call this lipoidica, necrobiosis. These are small raised firm bumps that resemble pimples that are common symptoms of that disorder. These pimples become bloated heart patches of skin as the time goes on. Yellow, reddish or brown spots can also appear in time. Necrobiosis lipoidica is characterized by red, puffy and heart patches on the legs. You may also notice the following things. The skin around it may have a gleaming porcelain like finish. The blood vessels can also be seen, your skin can be irritated and inflamed. That skin condition goes through phases of activity and inactivity or sometimes reactivation. So again, necrobiosis lipoidica is a medical term for this. I would say take action now. If you have not been diagnosed with diabetes or if you have uncontrolled diabetes, you need to either get tested or control your diabetes better. Make sure you work with your doctor to improve your diabetes management if you are having that condition. Although necrobiosis lipoidica is not harmful, it can cause difficulties and it is definitely not very sightly. Number two, velvety feeling that has darker patches of skin that may indicate that you may have too much insulin in your body if you have a black or brown patch of velvety skin. It could be on the back of your neck, it could be under your armpits or groin or elsewhere and this is very common with pre-diabetes as well. Yes, we're talking about achontosis nigricans. That's the medical name for the skin disorder. Achontosis nigricans is going to cause darker skin as we talk on the neck and especially in the creases of your skin. Maybe the first indicator of diabetes or insulin resistance. Number three, skin that is hardening and thickening. Well, we call that digital sclerosis. It's a medical term for that and it affects the fingers. It can affect your toes or both. On your hands, the back of your hands will have a tight, waxy skin. Fingers actually can stiffen and it can become even difficult to move. If your diabetes has been inadequately managed for years, it can feel like you have pebbles in your fingertips as well. Your skin will be hard and thick in this condition and it can be swollen looking as well and it can expand to your forearms and upper arms as well. It can appear on the upper back sometimes, the shoulders and neck occasionally. The thickening of the skin can sometimes expand all the way over to your face and shoulder and chest and that's not fun. Now, skin around the knees, the ankles and elbows can occasionally thicken in rare situations, making it difficult to straighten your leg or point your foot or bend your arm and so forth. The thicker skin often has the texture of an orange peel wherever it appears. People with diabetic complications or difficult to treat diabetes are more likely to develop this condition. So if you have this, make sure you inform your diabetes doctor about that thickness on your skin. Taking better control of your diabetes can definitely make you feel better. Again, alpha lopoic acid, benfortiamine, etc. will be helpful in this condition as well. Physical therapy may be sometimes required if you have physical limitations or it can help you preserve your ability to bend and straighten your joints when the thickened skin develops especially on your fingers or toes or other joints. Number four, blisters. Well, it is kind of uncommon that people with diabetes may develop blisters on their skin. It can be a huge blister, a group of blisters or both can be visible. The blisters appear typically on the hands, the feet, the legs or the forearms and resemble those that appear like after a severe burn. These blisters are not typically painful unlike the blisters that form after a burn, so it's just going to look like a balloon on top of your skin, okay? So we call this bolosus diabeticorum is the medical term just to make it fancy, right? It's complicated. Or we call this diabetic bully if you want to consider using your name for it. Those blisters should be reported to your doctor because you will want to take precautions to avoid the infection. So I would say consult with your primary care doctor or your podiatrist or your dermatologist or if you have a diabetes coach and get some advice on how to effectively manage your diabetes and that blister. Number five, infections on the skin. Well, if you're experiencing a lot of yeast infections, if you are experiencing any sort of infection, if you're prone to infection, then you may have diabetes or uncontrolled diabetes. If you have a skin infection, you will notice one or more of these things. Number one, that your skin will be hot, it will be swollen and it will be definitely uncomfortable. You may also notice an itchy rash with small blisters. Your skin can be dry and scaly and discharges are common. It can be pus or cottage cheese appearing discharges possible with skin infections. It can happen anywhere on your body, but it's more common between your toes around one or more nails or even your scalp. Keeping your toes or toenails dry is extremely important to prevent fungal infections. Treating skin infections timely is very important, otherwise it may progress. It may be very difficult to treat, especially when you have diabetes and uncontrolled diabetes with high blood sugars guys. And if you have been diagnosed with diabetes, sometimes you require more effective treatments or bigger antibiotics or more antibiotics or longer duration of antibiotics, etc. Number six are open wounds and sores. Now, this is a little more than an infection. It doesn't have to be infected, but if you have a poor circulation or a nerve damage, this could be from uncontrolled diabetes in most cases, then you may develop your these wounds or deep ulcers. Your body's ability to repair the simple wounds may be hampered because of this poor circulation and nerve damage. As a result, when you have a little lesion, it becomes complicated and gets deeper and deeper. It turns into an ulcer and open lesion that is prone to infection. So if you have diabetes, you should inspect your feet for sores and open wounds on a daily basis. Don't really expect your doctor or nurse to check your feet like every three to six months, because if you have a lesion, it may get worse within a few days. So you need to check it every day, do your own investigation. It is, I'm telling you, a hundred times more effective. If you have an open sore or wound, I would say seek medical attention right away, because untreated lesions can lead to severe infections and sometimes amputation. I need you to work with your doctor closely if you see things like that on your skin. Number seven, shin spots. The skin condition generates spots and occasionally some lines on the skin that create a barely visible depression. Patients with diabetes are more likely to experience that condition, although it's not specific to diabetics, but we call this diabetic thermopathy anyways if you have diabetes. It typically develops on the shins. In rare circumstances, it can appear on the arms, the thighs, the trunk, or other parts of your body as well. These brown spots are common and they actually have no symptoms. Many individuals mistake them for like aging spots as a result of these, you know, having no symptoms. These spots or lines, unlike eight spots, normally vanish within 18 to 24 months. Diabetic thermopathy can last sometimes permanently if you do not control your diabetes. Number eight is small reddish yellow lumps. In other words, we call those eruptive xanthomatosis. These lumps frequently resemble pimples when they emerge. Unlike the pimples though, they turn a yellowish tint super quickly. These bumps are generally found on the buttocks, the thighs, the elbow, and back of the knees. They can however form pretty much anywhere. They are frequently sensitive and itchy regardless of where they occur. Now eruptive xanthomatosis is a medical term for this and when your diabetes is well controlled, these bumps are typically disappear super quickly. Number nine, raised lumps that are red or skin colored and we call them granuloma anilore. It is debatable whether the skin issue is directly linked to diabetes, but as far as we know, the majority of people with granuloma anilore do not have diabetes, but on the other hand, a lot of investigations also discovered that this skin problem specifically is more common in diabetic people. So in a way that most people do not have, but let's say the incidence of that disorder is like 1% in a non-diabetic, but 3% in a diabetic. So it makes diabetics more susceptible to the skin disorder. So if you have granuloma anilore that comes and goes, you should be evaluated for diabetes according to a few studies that are published recently. This skin disorder causes bumps and it also comes with patches that are skin colored, sometimes red and pink or bluish and purple. So if you get pimples like the ones seen especially below like this one here, tell your doctor especially if they're common and going, all right? Number 10, the most common one, dry itchy skin. That's extremely dry itchy skin is super common in people with diabetes. This can be caused by high blood sugar for sure, but it can also be caused by a skin infection or poor circulation as well. Serra V is a good product that if you want to use on that dry skin. Number 11, scaly spots on or around your eyes that are yellowish in color and we call this Zantalusma. These appear when your body fat cells are too high in your blood. It also indicates that your diabetes is poorly managed. So watch out, guys. And the last one, the tags on your skin. Now many people have skin tags, right? They're like little grotes on their skin that hang on a stile and stuff like that. While skin tags are generally harmless, having a lot of them could actually indicate that you have way too much insulin in your blood or that you may actually have type 2 diabetes already. So the eyes, the neck, the armpit, the groin are the most typical sites for these grotes. Here are my tips that I promised in the beginning of this video. How to care for blisters. Let's talk about that. Number one, well I would not attempt to pop or break the blister because the blisters are protected from the infection with the skin that covers it. I would say just wash the affected area gently with warm water and some mild soap. Antibacterial ointment should also be applied to the blister without popping it. And I would say I would cover that as well with a gauze without making it too tight. You can use some cotton bandage as well. I would use hypoallergenic or paper tape to secure the delusion as well. At least once a day change the bandage. Wear a different pair of shoes until the blister cures if it is on your foot especially and if it is due to your shoes. Now let's talk about small cuts and rashes. How to really take care of them. You need to wash the affected area again gently with warm and mild soap. Do not try to dump alcohol on it that's not really going to help when you actually hurt it. I would say apply some antibiotic to the affected area. Cover it again with a gauze pad or a cotton bandage. I would use some hypoallergenic paper tape to secure it and I would say again change your bandage once a day. I would also check the area frequently to ensure that the discomfort is not worsening and infection is not worsening or developing. So that concludes our video today. I hope you learned something new today. Remember to like, share and subscribe guys and write something in the comment section if you have experienced any of these conditions and tell us what you have done about it. So thank you very much. We'll see you in the next video. Hey guys I hope you're enjoying this channel so far and I hope you subscribed already. If you didn't do it and if you did watch this video right there I think that will help you too.