May 27, 2004
Other
Question from Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain:
I recently had an interesting conversation with my sister, who is in England studying beauty treatments/therapy. She was told that a person with diabetes, in this case my son, cannot have treatment such as “hot waxing” and other types of treatment due to their skin condition. Basically, a person with diabetes cannot control well heated products as they cannot feel if things are too hot, which could include wax, water and so on. I have never heard of such a thing in my life. I do know that if they have a cut, it takes a bit longer to heal than someone who hasn’t got diabetes. This is the first time I have heard that people with diabetes may not be able to judge the heat of some things and could burn themselves. Is there any truth in this?.
Answer:
The information you got is very nonspecific and would only apply as a general caveat. If someone with diabetes had nerve damage (neuropathy) and lost sensation, including temperature sensation, then anything too hot would be potentially dangerous since they would not know if they were being burned. Similarly, if someone had pre-existing heart or cardiovascular problems, then skin dilatation from such local heat treatments might be dangerous. This would go for hot tubs, saunas etc. However, in a normal teenager with reasonable glucose control, and no such complications, none of these would apply. Common sense should rule.
SB
