
Is your skin warning you that you have diabetes?
When your body is in trouble, sometimes the warning signs are right in your face —literally. Skin complications can be the first indication of diabetes. If your skin starts flashing warning signs like the examples below, your body’s largest organ may be trying to tell you something.
Although skin complications are often a package deal with a diabetes diagnosis, you can still prevent them from occurring and recurring. Diagnosing skin issues with a board-certified dermatologist is your first step toward conquering them.
These are common skin complications linked to diabetes:
Itchy, dry skin
When your body can’t make enough insulin or can't use its own insulin well, sugars accumulate in blood. This high blood glucose is recognized by your body as dangerous, so it attempts to remove the excess by increasing urination. Loss of fluid puts your body into a rationed state, causing your skin to become dry. Dry skin triggers many related surface-symptoms, such as itchiness, cracking and redness.
Bacterial infections
One sign your diabetes isn’t being managed is frequent bacterial infections. High blood glucose levels make you more prone to infection. Research shows that more than 80 percent of diabetes-related hospitalizations due to infections are from bacterial infections. Most bacterial infections require a prescription for treatment.
Fungal infections
Bacterial infections aren’t the only infections to watch for if you have been diagnosed with diabetes. Diabetes is also linked to an increase in fungal infections from organisms such as tinea and candida. Most commonly, th
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