Diabetes-Related Dermopathy

What is diabetes-related dermopathy?

Diabetes-related dermopathy (often called “shin spots”) is a fairly common skin condition that affects people who are living with diabetes, including Type 1 diabetes and Type 2 diabetes.

Diabetes-related dermopathy looks like small, round pink, reddish or brown patches on your skin. They can look like scars and be indented. They’re generally 1 centimeter to 2.5 centimeters in size.

The patches are harmless and don’t itch, ooze liquid or cause pain. Diabetes-related dermopathy most often appears on the front of both of your lower legs (on your shins), but one leg may have more patches than the other. It can also appear on other parts of your body, such as your thighs and arms.

Who does diabetes-related dermopathy affect?

Diabetes-related dermopathy affects people who have diabetes mellitus.

Diabetes-related dermopathy is more common in people who have diabetes and are over 50 years of age and those who have had diabetes for a long time. The condition is also more common in people assigned male at birth.

How common is diabetes-related dermopathy?

Diabetes-related dermopathy is fairly common in people who have diabetes. It’s the most common skin condition that affects people who have diabetes.

What are the signs and symptoms of diabetes-related dermopathy?

Diabetes-related dermopathy is usually asymptomatic, meaning it doesn’t cause symptoms like pain or itching.

Characteristics of the diabetes-related dermopathy spots that develop on your skin include spots that are:

• Pink, reddish or brown.
• Round or oval.
• Slightly indented into your skin and/or somewhat scaly.
• Bilateral, meaning they appear on the skin of both of your legs or both of your arms at the same time.

The spots last for many months. Over time, the clusters of spots may look like age spots.

What causes diabetes-related dermopathy?

Researchers don’t yet know the exact cause of diabetes-related dermopathy. Many researchers and healthcare providers think that diabetes-related dermopathy may be related to prior trauma to your skin from an injury or extreme heat or cold, especially if you have neuropathy, which is a type of nerve damage that’s caused by chronic high blood sugar (hyperglycemia).

Diabetes-related dermopathy is strongly associated with the following complications of diabetes:

• Diabetes-related nephropathy (damage to your kidneys).
• Diabetes-related retinopathy (damage to the retina in your eye).
• Diabetes-related neuropathy (damage to your nerves).

Is diabetes-related dermopathy contagious?

Diabetes-related dermopathy isn’t contagious. You can’t get it from someone else or spread it to someone else.

How is diabetes-related dermopathy diagnosed?

Your healthcare provider will ask you questions about your medical history and your skin spots. They’ll then examine the size, color, shape and location of your spots to determine if it could be diabetes-related dermopathy.

Your provider might perform a skin biopsy on one or more of the spots to rule out other possible skin conditions.

How is diabetes-related dermopathy treated?

There’s no known treatment for diabetes-related dermopathy, but the good news is that the skin patches themselves are harmless.

Researchers aren’t sure if better diabetes management and having better blood sugars help improve the patches after someone already has them. However, if you have diabetes-related dermopathy, it’s important to continue to treat your diabetes and manage it well in order to stay healthy and prevent complications.

How can I manage my diabetes-related dermopathy?

While there’s no formal treatment for diabetes-related dermopathy, there are some things you can do at home to help manage the appearance of the diabetes-related dermopathy, including:

• Using makeup to help cover the patches.
• Using a moisturizer to help improve the appearance and texture of the patches.

It’s also important to manage your diabetes as well as you can to prevent complications.

What are the risk factors for developing diabetes-related dermopathy?

The risk factors for developing diabetes-related dermopathy include:

• Having diabetes mellitus: Diabetes-related dermopathy can affect people with diabetes. The two most common types of diabetes mellitus are Type 1 diabetes and Type 2 diabetes.
• How long you’ve had diabetes: The longer you’ve had diabetes, the more at risk you are for developing diabetes-related dermopathy.
• Your age: People who have diabetes and are over the age of 50 are more likely to get diabetes-related dermopathy.
• Your sex: People assigned male at birth who have diabetes are more likely to get diabetes-related dermopathy.
• Having chronic high blood sugar (hyperglycemia): Diabetes-related dermopathy is associated with diabetes complications that are caused by long-term high blood sugar. Since diabetes-related dermopathy is associated with these complications, having chronic high blood sugar could put you at a higher risk of getting diabetes-related dermopathy.

What can I do to prevent diabetes-related dermopathy?

Although not all cases of diabetes-related dermopathy are preventable, the main way to try to prevent diabetes-related dermopathy is to manage your diabetes well. Steps you can take to manage your diabetes well include:

• Checking your blood sugar regularly: Checking your blood sugar with a glucometer and/or using continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) is crucial to managing diabetes and preventing complications. Try to at least check your blood sugar before and after meals and before you go to sleep. It’s important to treat high blood sugar as soon as possible in order to stay healthy and prevent complications.
• Taking your insulin and/or medication regularly: Follow your healthcare provider’s instructions for taking your insulin and/or medication.
• Seeing your healthcare provider regularly: Every person with diabetes has a management plan that’s unique to them. It’s important to see your healthcare provider regularly to make sure your plan and medication(s) are working for you. If your management plan isn’t working for you, reach out to your healthcare provider or schedule an appointment to make improvements to your management.
• Exercising regularly: Exercising regularly helps to increase insulin sensitivity, which means your body is able to better use the insulin it makes or the insulin that you inject. Having insulin sensitivity makes it a little easier to manage your blood sugars.
• Eating healthy: See a registered dietitian for help understanding nutrition and meal planning that will work best for you.
• Asking for help: Diabetes management can be confusing and difficult. If you’re struggling to manage your diabetes, reach out to your healthcare provider for help and reach out to family and friends for support.

Since many researchers think that diabetes-related dermopathy may be related to prior injuries to the affected area, wearing protective gear such as shin guards or thick, long socks when you’re doing physical activities could help protect your shins from getting injured.

What is the prognosis (outlook) for diabetes-related dermopathy?

Diabetes-related dermopathy itself is harmless. However, diabetes-related dermopathy can be a warning sign of diabetes complications such as neuropathy, nephropathy and retinopathy.

If you have signs of diabetes-related dermopathy, be sure to contact your healthcare provider. In some cases, diabetes-related dermopathy “helps” with early diagnosis and prevention of these diabetes complications.

How long does diabetes-related dermopathy last?

On average, diabetes-related dermopathy patches tend to fade after one to two years, but they can remain on your skin for longer. Better blood sugar management doesn’t seem to have an effect on how diabetes-related dermopathy progresses once you already have it. After specific spots fade, new spots can appear.

When should I see my healthcare provider?

If you have new round, brown patches on your skin and haven’t been diagnosed with diabetes, contact your healthcare provider as soon as possible. Diabetes-related dermopathy could be a sign that you have diabetes.

If you already have diabetes and are experiencing signs of diabetes-related dermopathy, be sure to see your healthcare provider. Diabetes-related dermopathy could be a sign of other diabetes complications, and your provider may want to run certain tests to check your overall health.

If you notice any kind of significant change to your skin, especially color changes, it’s important to contact your healthcare provider. They may want to examine your skin to make sure you don’t have a serious condition.

A note from Cleveland Clinic

Even though diabetes-related dermatology may have an unpleasant appearance, the condition itself doesn’t harm your health. If you’re experiencing signs of diabetes-related dermopathy, it’s important to see your healthcare provider. Diabetes-related dermopathy can look similar to other skin conditions, so your provider will want to be sure of the diagnosis. No matter what, it’s essential to do your best to manage your diabetes well in order to be healthy and prevent complications. Don’t be afraid to ask your provider for help and friends and family for support.