Diabetic Foot Care

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If you have diabetes, nerve damage, circulation problems, and  infections can lead to serious foot problems. However, you can take  precautions to maintain healthy feet.

Managing your diabetes and maintaining a healthy lifestyle helps keep your feet healthy. This should include: 

• regular medical exams, including foot checks at every visit and checking your ABCs (A1c, blood pressure, and cholesterol) 
• monitoring your blood sugar daily
• regular exercise 
• eating a balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables

You can help prevent serious foot problems by following a good foot care regimen.

Following good foot care habits will go a long way toward keeping your feet healthy. Here are a few helpful tips.

• Antiseptic solutions can burn your skin. Never use them on your feet without your doctor’s approval.
• Never use a heating pad, hot water bottle, or electric blanket on your feet.
• Avoid  walking barefoot. Most people know to avoid hot pavement or sandy  beaches, but even walking barefoot around the house can cause sores or  injuries that can get infected.
• Protect your feet from heat and cold.
• Never  attempt to remove corns, calluses, warts, or other foot lesions  yourself. Don’t use chemical wart removers, razor blades, corn plasters,  or liquid corn or callus removers. See your doctor or podiatrist.
• Don’t sit with your legs crossed or stand in one position for long periods of time.

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It’s important to recognize early warning signs of foot problems, such as:

• burning, tingling, or painful feet
• loss of sensation to heat, cold, or touch
• changes to the color or shape of your feet
• loss of hair on the toes, feet, and lower legs
• thickening and yellowing of the toenails
• onset of red spots, blisters, sores, ulcers, infected corns, or ingrown toenails

If you have any of these symptoms, call your doctor immediately. Delay may result in serious health complications.

Following the tips above can help you to avoid foot problems. As  stated above, high blood sugar levels over time can cause nerve damage  and circulation problems. These problems can cause or contribute to foot  problems. Left unnoticed or untreated, sores, ingrown toenails, and  other problems can lead to infection. Poor circulation makes healing an  infection difficult. So it’s best to avoid them if possible.

Infections  that do not heal can cause skin and tissue to die and turn black. This  is called gangrene. Treatment can involve surgery to amputate a toe,  foot, or part of a leg.

A doctor should examine your feet at every visit and do a thorough  foot exam once a year. If you have a history of foot problems, you  should be checked more often. Your health care provider should also give  you information on foot care and answer all your questions. Report any  corns, calluses, sores, cuts, bruises, infections, or foot pain.

If  necessary, your doctor can recommend a podiatrist who specializes in  diabetic foot care or give you information about special shoes that may  help.

Remember: Diabetes-related foot problems can worsen very  quickly and are difficult to treat, so it’s important to seek prompt  medical attention.