Diabetes & Metabolism
Diabetes Complications & Foot Care
Screening for eye, kidney, nerve and heart involvement — and the foot care that prevents the ulcers and amputations which cause the most avoidable harm in Indian diabetes practice.
Symptoms that bring people in
- Numbness, tingling or burning in the feet
- Not feeling a stone in your shoe or hot water
- Swelling of the feet or around the eyes
- Froth in the urine
- Blurred or fluctuating vision
- Calf pain on walking, easing with rest
- Breathlessness or chest discomfort on exertion
Having one of these does not mean you have this condition — several overlap with far more common problems. It means the question is worth asking properly.
Long-standing high blood sugar damages small and large blood vessels. Most of that damage is silent until it is advanced, so the whole strategy is systematic screening — looking for problems in people who feel entirely well.
What is checked, and how often
Eyes. A dilated retinal examination every year. Diabetic retinopathy is treatable when caught early and is a leading cause of preventable blindness when it is not.
Kidneys. Urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio and eGFR annually. Early diabetic kidney disease shows as protein in the urine long before creatinine rises, and at that stage progression can be slowed substantially with the right medicines and blood-pressure control.
Nerves. Examination of sensation, vibration and ankle reflexes. Painful neuropathy has genuinely effective treatment; the more dangerous form is painless numbness, because injuries then go unnoticed.
Heart and circulation. Blood pressure, lipid profile, and assessment of foot pulses, with an ECG or further cardiac assessment as indicated.
Feet
The great majority of diabetic amputations begin with something small and are preventable. The rules are unglamorous and they work: look at both feet every day, including between the toes and the soles; never walk barefoot, indoors or out; check the temperature of bath water with your hand or elbow rather than your foot; wear footwear that fits, and feel inside it before putting it on; cut nails straight across; and have hard skin or corns dealt with properly rather than cut at home.
Get seen the same day
Any new ulcer, blister, blackened area, spreading redness, foul discharge, or a foot that is swollen and warm — especially with fever or rising sugars — needs urgent attention. A day matters here.
This page is general information. Doses and treatment choices in endocrinology are individual, and are decided at a consultation with your reports in front of us. Please do not start, stop or change a medicine based on this page.
Common questions
Before your first visit
How do I book an appointment?
Use the appointment form on this website and the clinic will telephone you to confirm a time, usually within one working day. For a same-day or urgent request, please ring the number in the page header instead — a phone call is always faster than a form.
Hospital OPDs at CMRI and Narayana Memorial are booked through the hospital's own reception. For district chambers, it is worth calling the chamber number listed on its page before travelling.
Which chamber should I choose?
Whichever is easiest for you to reach and return to. Endocrine conditions need review over months and years rather than a single visit, so the chamber you can get to comfortably every few months is nearly always the better choice than the one that seems most impressive.
That said: if your problem needs same-day tests, an ultrasound, or admission, a hospital OPD is the better setting. The Chambers page lists every location with its days and timings, and the weekly timetable shows them all side by side.
Do chamber timings ever change?
Yes — and this is worth taking seriously if you are travelling any distance. Several district visits run on a monthly rotation, such as the 1st and 3rd Saturday, and a hospital OPD can be rescheduled at short notice. Timings shown on this website are kept up to date and any known cancellation appears on the chamber's page, but please telephone ahead before a long journey.
What should I bring to the first consultation?
Bring everything you have, even if it seems old or irrelevant:
- all previous prescriptions, including from other doctors
- every blood report and scan you hold, in date order if possible
- the actual strips or boxes of the medicines you take, or a written list with doses
- your home blood sugar or blood pressure diary, if you keep one
- for a child, the growth chart and immunisation record
Old reports are genuinely useful. A five-year-old thyroid result or an earlier scan often changes the plan, because what matters in endocrinology is frequently the trend rather than today's number.
Consultation
Request an appointment
Tell us which chamber suits you and when. We will confirm your slot by phone.