Diagnosing diabetic neuropathy can be challenging because so many conditions mirror the effects of it. The most common type of neuropathy found in diabetes is peripheral neuropathy, a type of neuropathy which affects the extremities of the body first. Usually symptoms begin in the feet and legs, followed by the hands and arms. According to Podiatry Today, when diagnosing diabetic neuropathy it is a “diagnosis of exclusion”. In other words the practitioner must “cast a very wide net of tests and keep an open mind regarding clinical suspicion in order to reach an accurate diagnostic conclusion.”

When diagnosing diabetic neuropathy your physician must consider possibilities such as whether another type of neuropathy could be affecting the lower extremities. Other things to be considered are usually thyroid problems, vitamin B12 deficiencies, nerve entrapments, lupus, kidney failure, nutritional deficiencies, and alcoholism. Failure to diagnose and treat other conditions which may have …