If you have diabetes, you may experience joint pain. It’s important to consult your doctor to find out whether your joint pain is caused by diabetes, a complication of diabetes, or another condition that may co-occur with the disease.

Nerve damage from diabetes is a common complication that many people with the condition develop over time. This can also lead to joint damage and arthritis.

One of the most important ways to help prevent diabetes-related complications is to effectively manage blood sugars and keep A1C levels in range. But there are also ways to manage joint pain and related issues stemming from diabetes, with your healthcare team’s guidance.

If you have type 1 diabetes, your body does not produce insulin. If you have type 2 diabetes, your body either produces less insulin or does not use insulin properly.

With either type, you can develop high blood glucose levels. These high blood sugars can over the long-term raise your risk for diabetes-related complications, including nerve damage (neuropathy).

When diabetes-related neuropathy affects your joints, it’s called neuropathic arthropathy. When nerves don’t stimulate the joints, they can begin to degenerate.

All of this can lead to a number of different issues affecting your joints.

One example of diabetic arthropathy is Charcot’s foot, which affects the joints of the foot. It develops over time as a joint or connecting joints deteriorate, leading to pain.

The loss of nerve function in the foot can lead to numbness. That means as you walk on numb feet, you’re more likely to twist and injure ligaments without knowing it. You may also get a cut or scrape on your foot or toes, without knowing it unless you do regular exams of your feet.

All of this foot-related pressure can wear down your joints. Severe damage can lead to deformities in your foot and other affected joints, which may also raise the risk for foot ulcers.

You can prevent bone deformities by identifying and treating the condition early. Symptoms may include:

  • joint pain
  • swelling or redness
  • numbness
  • an area that is hot to the touch
  • changes in the appearance of your feet

If your doctor determines that your joint pain is related to diabetes and Charcot’s foot, it’s important to limit your walking and how much you use those particular joints to prevent future damage. If you have numb feet, consider wearing orthotics for additional support.

This degenerative nerve and blood vessel process can also affect the joints of your hand. It may lead to:

  • Carpal tunnel syndrome: This condition results from compression of your median nerve.
  • Trigger finger: This is inflammation of your finger tendons that makes it difficult to bend or straighten your finger. The condition can cause pain, numbness, or tingling around your thumb.
  • Dupuytren’s contracture: This condition causes nodules under the skin in your hand, limiting the mobility of the hand.
  • Frozen shoulder: You may experience shoulder pain and find it difficult to move your shoulder. This is called frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis), and it’s a complication that some people may develop after many years of life with diabetes. It may develop in one or both shoulders.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory condition caused by an autoimmune disease. This may cause swelling and redness in your joints, fingers, and hands.

Pain and swelling are the primary symptoms you may notice with RA. The symptoms may come and go without warning.

The exact causes or reasons for RA are unknown, but it’s not tied to excessive weight as other joint-related issues such as OA may be.

People with type 1 diabetes are at higher risk for RA, which is another autoimmune condition. Both cause increased levels of the inflammatory markers interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein.

There is no cure for autoimmune diseases such as RA, so treatment focuses on relieving pain and reducing the inflammation that causes the symptoms.

Your doctor may recommend using any of the following types of medication to manage this condition:

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common joint-affecting conditions and is a form of arthritis.

Excess weight can cause or aggravate OA and is also a risk factor for developing diabetes. Unlike Charcot’s foot, OA is not directly caused by diabetes. Instead, excess weight increases the risk of developing both type 2 diabetes and OA.

OA occurs when cartilage — the cushioning between the joints — wears down. This causes the bones to rub against each other, resulting in joint pain. While joint wear-and-tear is natural to some extent in older adults, excess weight speeds up the process.

With osteoarthritis, you may notice swelling at your joints and increasing difficulty in moving your limbs. OA most commonly affects the hips and knees.

The best way to treat OA is to reach or maintain a moderate weight. Excess weight puts more pressure on your bones and can make diabetes harder to manage. If your doctor recommends that you lose weight, doing so may help alleviate chronic joint pain and ease other diabetes symptoms.

Regular exercise can do more than just help you manage your weight. Physical movement also helps lubricate your joints. As a result, you may feel less pain.

Your doctor may prescribe pain medications for you to take when joint discomfort from OA becomes difficult to tolerate. Surgery, such as knee replacement, may be necessary in severe cases.

Your guide to joint pain

Explore more about how different types of joint pain can affect your life and how you can manage and treat this type of pain, whether you live with diabetes or not..

The key to addressing diabetes-related joint pain is to spot it early. While these conditions have no cure, treatments are available to help minimize pain and discomfort.

Contact your doctor if you’re experiencing swelling, redness, pain, or numbness in your feet and legs. It’s important to treat these symptoms as soon as possible.

If you have diabetes or believe you may be at risk, consider talking with your doctor about your personal risk factors for joint pain.