Predicting impending injury: Our rationale for evaluating skin temperatures involves the search for a quantifiable, reproducible measurement of inflammation that can be used to identify pathologic processes before they result in ulcers. Inflammation is one of the earliest signs of foot ulceration. Five cardinal signs characterize inflammation: redness, pain, swelling, loss of function and heat. Many of these signs are difficult to assess objectively. In the neuropathic extremity, pain and disturbance of function may be absent because of neuropathy and thus are poor indicators of inflammation. In addition, swelling and redness are difficult to objectively grade from clinician to clinician or from visit to visit. Most lay people will not be able to understand or accurately evaluate these subtle parameters. However, temperature measurements can be easily performed by patients or their spouses and provide quantitative information that has been shown to be predictive of impending ulceration in diabetics with sensory neuropathy.