Living With a Parent Who Has Diabetes – And the Companies Quietly Making a Difference
I don’t talk about this often, but diabetes has been a constant presence in my life. My parent was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes when I was in my early teens. At the time, I didn’t really understand what it meant beyond the words “blood sugar” and “insulin.” But over the years, I’ve come to understand it much more intimately—through hospital visits, carb counting at the dinner table, medication changes, and more recently, foot complications.
If you’ve ever supported someone with diabetes, you know it’s a condition that touches everything. It doesn’t take a day off, and it doesn’t follow any kind of schedule. One of the more frustrating and lesser-talked-about complications is the toll it takes on the feet. Circulation slows, nerves stop working properly, and suddenly something as simple as a blister can become a serious medical issue.
In my parent’s case, stubborn foot pain has become a daily challenge. They’ve tried over-the-counter inserts, expensive orthotics, wide-fit shoes—the lot. Some helped for a while, but nothing ever seemed to quite work long-term. And honestly, that’s the most exhausting part of managing diabetes: the never-ending search for something that actually helps.
Where Innovation Quietly Steps In
Recently, I came across a company called Taika3D—not through a flashy ad or some dramatic rebrand, but in a conversation about how tech is starting to transform orthopaedic care. They’re not making insulin or glucose monitors, but they are doing something that has the potential to make a massive difference for people like my parent: helping orthopaedic and prosthetic clinics create fully custom insoles using 3D scanning software.
It’s not the kind of thing that gets a lot of headlines, but it should. Because one of the biggest barriers in diabetic foot care is access—access to properly fitted orthotics that don’t cost a fortune and don’t take weeks or months to arrive. Taika3D’s software helps clinics scan a patient’s foot, build a design around it, and produce the insole more quickly and affordably than traditional methods. That means more people can get the custom support they need before a small issue turns into a serious complication.
For people living with “stubborn” diabetes—where symptoms just won’t seem to stabilise no matter how hard you try—this kind of quiet innovation is invaluable. It’s not a cure, but it’s comfort, mobility, and independence. And when you’ve watched someone you love limp their way through a day because of poorly fitting shoes, that means everything.
Not All Help Comes in a Pill
Diabetes care is complicated and deeply personal. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach—especially when it comes to things like orthotic support. But it’s comforting to know that behind the scenes, there are companies like Taika3D pushing for better solutions. Ones that treat patients as individuals, not just numbers in a system.
If you’re supporting someone with diabetes, or living with it yourself, you’ll know how quickly the small stuff adds up. So here’s to the people working on the small stuff—and making it better.
