Diabetes
When a patient has diabetes and experiences a splinter hemorrhage, there are several potential causes. Diabetes can cause decreased blood flow to the extremities, reducing healing. It also can cause poor circulation to other body areas, leading to an increased risk for infection. Finally, splinter hemorrhages are caused by trauma to the skin. When diabetes is present, and the body is more susceptible to infections, that trauma could have come from something as basic as the pressure of shoes rubbing against the toe.
However, potentially more serious sources of trauma, like cuts and scrapes, may have occurred without being noticed because of blood loss or numbness in the area where they happened. The onset of diabetes can also lead to nerve damage in the extremities, which can interfere with a person’s ability to feel pain while walking on a splinter or other source of trauma affecting their foot. This could result in a deeper cut or even an open wound.
