Bare feet resting on a woven jute mat beside a steel tumbler of water
Illustrative image

Short answer: high blood sugar can damage the nerves in your feet, so you may lose feeling and damage your feet without noticing.[8] If you have diabetes and your feet feel numb, tingling or different, get them checked.[1][2][8]

Numb feet in diabetes: what to know

  • Check your feet daily.[8]
  • Get the annual foot check. Everyone with diabetes should have one; on the NHS (in the UK) it's free, and a health professional looks at your feet, asks about changes and checks your blood supply.[8] Ask your own doctor or diabetes clinic in Chennai for the equivalent.
  • Be careful with heat. If you can't feel heat properly, you can burn your feet without knowing. A British Journal of General Practice case report describes two diabetic patients with neuropathy who got deep foot burns that needed hospital treatment after using hot water bottles to warm their feet, and says doctors should warn patients about this.[9] For this reason we do not offer or suggest warmth on numb feet. Please ask your doctor first.

When to see a doctor

Get help straight away (call your GP or foot team, or 111 in the UK; in India, your doctor or hospital) for a new cut or blister, red skin around a blister, cuts, wounds or sores that don't heal, or swollen feet.[8] See a GP for tingling or loss of feeling in the foot, or heel pain if you have diabetes.[1][2]

Sources

  1. NHS, Heel pain
  2. NHS, Plantar fasciitis
  3. Diabetes UK, Diabetes and your feet
  4. British Journal of General Practice (2005), Hot water bottles and diabetic patients, a cautionary tale

Written by the Prife iTeraCare team and last reviewed on 10 October 2026. This is general information, not medical advice, and it does not replace your doctor or physiotherapist. A session is a wellness experience, not a medical treatment.

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