As a diabetic you must have read or heard from your physician that it’s very important to daily check your feet, and that your feet are more prone to trauma, infections and even abcess format than every body else, but why is your feet at danger of these problems, and how can you prevent them early?
Your feet is susceptible to the previously mentioned problems because of the following:
A. Decrease or loss of sensation:
Diabetes can affect nerves, especially the peripheral nerves meaning the nerves that supply the hands and feet to give them the ability of sensation, once these nerves are affected sensation will gradually decrease in these areas especially the feet so if you had a minor trauma like a pin prick or a small wound you may not feel them, and they may get worse.
And the best way to prevent your nerves from being damaged by diabetes is to keep your blood sugar levels within the normal range.
B. High liability for infection :
Excess sugar in blood makes it a very good environment for bacteria to attack and live in there, so again, controlling blood sugar is a vital step for decreasing the degree of infection.
C. Immune system dysfunction
When you have an injury somewhere, for example your foot, some of the first cells that come to act there are the white blood cells, which arrive at the wound area to fight against foreign bodies, and prevent wound infection, but in uncontrolled diabetes mellitus this process is slower and is much inhibited by excess blood sugar.
All these factors contribute to the incidence of wound infections, which are sometimes highly resistant to antibiotics, and they heal very slowly or even get worst. In the US 50% of foot amputations are due to diabetes.
So, how to care about your feet?
1. Inspect your foot daily for the presence of any redness, punctures or pus, you can ask someone to help you, or use a mirror.
2. Wear comfortable shoes :
Wear comfortable shoes that are exactly your size, because smaller and lager shoes can cause many troubles due to repeated friction which may cause ulcerations.
Check your shoe before wearing and make sure they are completely empty.
Also you need to make to wear clean and comfortable socks.
3. Cut your nails with caution :
Cut your nails carefully, trying not to cut too much, and you may also ask someone to help you.
4. Clean your feet daily :
Make sure to use warm water, not cold or hot, make sure to test the temperature of the water as it may be hot and cause injury to you without you realizing that.
5. Let the doctor check your feet for you :
It’s good to go every few months for a feet check which is better to be done by a surgeon.
At the end we must insist on the fact that the best way to prevent feet problems from the start is by controlling your blood sugar by following an appropriate diet, a healthy lifestyle, and taking your medications as prescribed by your doctor.