Alternative medicine: potential dangers for the diabetic foot.

Two patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and previously undiagnosed peripheral neuropathy consulted separate practitioners in alternative medicine with symptoms of painful cold feet. They both received the traditional Chinese therapy of moxibustion and subsequently developed painless ulceration at the sites of treatment on the feet and legs. These cases re-emphasize the dangers of trauma to the neuropathic limb in patients with diabetes.