Peripheral artery disease
When you have diabetes, you’re more likely to have peripheral artery disease (PAD). PAD means you have poor blood flow to your extremities, which includes both your hands and your feet, due to narrowed arteries. Around 33% of diabetes sufferers over 50 have PAD.
Usually, PAD happens because of atherosclerosis, which means cholesterol and fat buildup inside your arteries. When you have PAD, your legs and feet can heal very slowly, or not at all, because there’s no blood supply to nourish wounds.
Peripheral neuropathy makes you more likely to get wounds you don’t know about, and PAD makes it very hard to heal those wounds. Unfortunately, this often leads to very serious foot damage.