Diabetes Foot Care - Keep Your Feet Feeling Their Best!

Nina
Ghamrawi
Aug 31, 2022
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Diabetes is not just a blood sugar problem. When blood sugars are high, or go through a lot of highs and lows, it can cause nerve and blood vessel damage. This can lead to severe problems, especially in getting blood to the body parts farthest from your heart- your feet! Diabetes is responsible for more than 60% of all foot and leg amputations. That’s more than those caused by accidents.

When you have a small cut, poke, or a blister on your foot, usually it heals just fine. But with diabetes, both nerve damage and blood vessel damage can lead to problems, infection, and even amputation.

So- if you can’t feel that you hurt your foot, you don’t know it is there, and your body can’t heal it for you, the injury may get infected, or even start to cause an ulcer or foot decay before you notice a problem.

Tips to Keep Your Feet Healthy and Prevent Ulcers

1- Inspect your feet every day

2- Wear shoes that fit you

3- Bathe your feet in lukewarm water, never in hot water. 

4- Have your feet checked at each doctor’s visit.

5- Control your blood sugars

6- Quit smoking!

You never know when you are losing feeling in your feet, since it is usually not obvious without testing. Check your feet at home regularly, keep them moistened, and try to keep your diabetes controlled. Visit your doctor regularly when you have Diabetes, and also ask them to check your feet. Also set-up and keep your yearly visits with a podiatrist to check for nerve function and other concerning issues.