Many of the people we see at Custom Orthotic Design Group Ltd. have diabetes and are in fact, referred to us to treat and help manage the complications of diabetes.

The high levels of sugar in the body cause damage to the nerves of the body. There are many different types of nerves in our bodies including motor, sensory and autonomic.

• Motor nerves send messages to the muscles to cause movement such as walking or wiggling a toe.  Loss of motor nerves can cause muscle weakness and result in problems such as foot drop.
• Sensory nerves tell us if something is touching or hurting us and where our body parts are in relation to each other (proprioception).  Loss of sensation includes the loss of protective sensation.  If that happens and someone steps on a sharp object, they might not know they have and might not treat it properly.
• Autonomic nerves are responsible for changes to our blood flow, temperature causing us to blush and sweat.  With now sweat, feet can become very dry and cracked, allowing bacteria to enter the body.

When any of the nerves are impaired (neuropathy), our body does not work as it is supposed to and there is a potential for complications.