Understanding Diabetic Dermopathy: Causes, Risks, and Prevention Tips
Doctor explains diabetic dermopathy, a common skin condition in diabetics. Learn about the causes, appearance, risk factors, and prevention tips, complete with clinical photographs and expert advice.
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Topic Breakdown
If you've got diabetes and you've noticed some small round brownish patches that have appeared on your shins, this post is for you. Today, we’re diving into a skin condition called diabetic dermopathy, covering what causes it, what it typically looks like, including lots of clinical photographs, risk factors for developing it, and finally ways to prevent it.
Diabetic dermopathy is a skin condition characterized by light brown or reddish, oval or round, slightly indented, scaly patches most often appearing on the shins. This is why they are often referred to as "shin spots." It's a harmless skin condition and it can't be spread to other people. Although these lesions may appear in anyone, particularly after an injury or trauma to the area, they are one of the most common skin problems found in patients with diabetes. In fact, they are observed in almost one in three individuals with diabetes.
Let’s take a look at some real-life photographic examples, courtesy of DermNet New Zealand. In this series of photos, you’re seeing classical examples of diabetic dermopathy. You’ll notice that the lesions appear most frequently on the shins, although they can also be found on the front of the thighs, the forearm, the side of the foot, the scalp, and the trunk, but this is less common. Normally, they’ll be round or oval-shaped, reddish-brown in color, but this will depend on the patient’s skin tone. Initially, they are scaly but then can flatten out and become indented. They can commonly occur on both shins. The presence of four or more lesions is almost always limited to patients with diabetes. It’s important that people presenting with shin spots who are not already diagnosed with diabetes should undergo further investigations to rule out the possibility of early diabetes.
Now that we know what they are and what they look like, what causes diabetic dermopathy? The exact cause is unknown, but it may be associated with complications of diabetes affecting the nerves and the blood vessels. Research studies have shown the condition to occur more frequently in diabetic patients who have retinopathy (damage to the blood vessels in the eyes), neuropathy (damage to the nerves), and nephropathy (damage to the kidneys). Diabetic dermopathy tends to occur in older patients or those who have had diabetes for at least 10 to 20 years. It appears to be closely linked to increased glycosylated hemoglobin, also known as HbA1c, which is an indicator of poor blood control of blood glucose levels. Because the lesions occur over bony parts of the body such as the shins, it’s thought that shin spots or diabetic dermopathy may be a magnified response to an injury or trauma to these areas. Studies have shown that shin spots have appeared in response to trauma with heat, cold, or blunt objects.
So, what puts you at risk for developing this skin condition? Having diabetes mellitus is the most obvious risk factor, and if your diabetes is poorly controlled for long periods of time, this also increases your risk. The longer you’ve had diabetes, the more at risk you are for developing diabetes-related dermopathy. Your age is also important; people who are over the age of 50 are more likely to get this, and people who are assigned male at birth are also more likely to develop shin spots.
People often ask, what is the treatment for diabetic dermopathy? Diabetic dermopathy lesions or shin spots are harmless. They usually do not require any treatment and they can go away after a few years, particularly following improved blood glucose control. Some people use makeup to help cover the patches and others might use a moisturizing emollient cream to help improve the appearance and texture of the patches. As a general rule of thumb, it’s important to manage your diabetes well to avoid further complications.
The main way to try and prevent these diabetes-related dermopathy lesions from occurring is to manage your diabetes. This involves checking your blood sugar regularly, taking your insulin or medication on time, seeing your health provider annually to make sure that you’re keeping up to date with your diabetes management and that you’ve got a personalized plan to help do this, exercising regularly, eating healthily, and most importantly, asking for help. Diabetes management can be confusing and difficult. If you’re struggling to manage your diabetes, please do reach out to your health provider. They are more than happy to help, and also please reach out to family and friends for support.
If you found this post helpful and learned something new, please consider liking it, leaving a comment with your thoughts or top tips on managing diabetic dermopathy, and subscribing for more weekly medical education content. For those of you looking to scale your medical brand on YouTube or interested in sponsoring our videos with your products, please don’t hesitate to book a consultation with us.
Remember, this information is designed for educational purposes and is not clinical advice. For any concerning skin lesions, especially those that are dark, bleeding, or look irregular, please see your healthcare provider. Thank you for reading, and until next time!
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