Type 2 diabetes: Are your nails yellow? Unusual signs of diabetes on your hands and feet

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Type 2 diabetes can offer many different warning signs within the body and outside the body. Changes to the texture, thickness, or colour of your nails can signal that you’re sick before other symptoms appear. When you have a chronic disease such as type 2 diabetes, it’s even more important to pay attention to the health of your nails. What to look out for?

Dr Elizabeth Salada ensures that she checks her patients’ nails on a routine basis as part of the patient’s routine medical examinations.

“Lots of common diseases can present themselves through the appearance of your nails,” said Dr Salada.

She continued: “The normal, typical healthy nail is quite pink, flat and even in colour.

“A slight blush at bottom of the nail is sometimes a symptom of diabetes.”

People with diabetes may have some redness around the nails, said Practical Diabetes.

The site added: “It can be difficult to decide if the erythema is simply circulatory or due to paronychia.

“The nail folds are a window onto the microcirculation via capillaroscopy.

“People with advanced diabetes show dilated capillaries, although changes may not be seen early in diabetes.”

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In some people with diabetes, the nails take on a yellowish hue.

Often this colouring has to do with the breakdown of sugar and its effect on the collagen in nails.

This kind of yellowing isn’t harmful. It doesn’t need to be treated.

But in certain cases, yellowing can be a sign of a nail infection.

People with diabetes are more likely than those without diabetes to get a fungal infection called onychomycosis.

This infection usually affects the toenails. The nails will turn yellow and become brittle.

If a person gets a cut on their foot, nerve damage from diabetes may make it hard for you to feel the injury.

Bacteria can find their way into the open sore, causing infection and if a person doesn’t feel the injury and doesn’t treat the infection, it could damage the foot so much that they may need to have it amputated.

WebMD lists the ways to properly care for your feet and nails when you have type 2 diabetes which include:

Wash and Dry Your Feet Daily

Use mild soaps and warm water.

Pat your skin dry; do not rub and thoroughly dry your feet.

Check Your Feet Every Day

Look for blisters, cuts, scratches, or other sores.

Check for redness, increased warmth, or tenderness when you touch an area.

Take Care of Your Toenails

Cut toenails after bathing, when they are soft. 

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