Diabetic Dermopathy Skin Disorder

What is diabetic dermopathy? This diabetic skin condition often makes an appearance of the skin by showing reddish, light brown, oval or brown scaly patches. These patches may be oval or round, and slightly indented and are frequently seen on your shins. These lesions can also happen to those people that are not diabetics, but more often seen in diabetics.

Why? Well, the exact reason for this is truly not known, at least in what I've read up on so far. Scientists have some ideas that it may be related to neuropathic and vascular complications. Diabetics have more trouble with blood vessels and also retinopathy then other patients. So patients with a lot of sensory nerve damage have more problems.

Older people or people that have had diabetes for a number of years tend to show signs of diabetic dermopathy. When the hemoglobin A1C rises, (which is where cells die off quicker than average due to glucose rising), this can strongly effect skin conditions.

This frequent skin condition in diabetic people with trauma or injury to the bones in the shin area. That could mean trauma in response to intense heat, or trauma from sharp objects.

There will usually be lesions of four or better in diabetic people. These spots though, are harmless. Treatment is not usually required and the lesions may go away after a long period of time passes. Keeping your blood glucose in good control near normal ranges will speed this healing process.