Healthtips

Your feet deserve the very best care you can give them, even when you are in the best of health. However, if you suffer from diabetes, your feet need extra care and attention for several important reasons. Unfortunately, often patients with diabetes and their family members are unaware of how critical it is to maintain a high level awareness about the health of their feet. Ignorance of special foot care procedures can ultimately result in loss of the toes, the entire foot, or leg, if unhealthy conditions are allowed to persist.

High blood sugar levels from diabetes can have several negative effects on your feet, starting with damage to the nerve endings. This lack of sensation can prevent you from realizing that you have injured your feet, or that your shoes do not fit correctly. A simple blister when not noticed, can progress rapidly, to become a devastating infection. Diabetes can also damage the blood vessels throughout your body. When it affects the vessels that carry blood to your feet and legs, this decreases the blood flow to your feet. As a result, small cuts, sores, and ingrown toenails take longer to heal and are more likely to become infected. Finally, diabetes decreases your body’s ability to fight infection. Even a small cut can become seriously infected because your immune system has been compromised by diabetes.

The best way to avoid these problems is to take care of your feet in a very specific and thorough manner. I have a guideline that I provide my patients, and ask them to share it with their family members who help them manage their diabetes. Many of these steps are not strictly for patients with diabetes, but are actually good preventive care measures for everyone who values good foot health. The first step is to inspect your feet at least once a day. For those with diabetes, this should not be a quick once over before stepping in the shower, but rather a careful examination using a handheld mirror or magnifying mirror. If you do not have the ability to check yourself, ask someone else to help.

There is a specific way in which your feet should be washed. I give my patients guidance on this process, and recommend that they post the steps for proper foot washing in their bathroom to help them become a regular habit.

Wearing shoes and socks that fit well seems like an obvious recommendation. However, anyone that has visited a shoe store knows that the racks are full of styles that just are not appropriate for certain people. Does the shoe have a shape that matches your foot? In all cases, soft shoes that have good support and fit well, are best for your feet. You should break in new shoes slowly, wearing them for a few hours a day and increasing that time each week.

You must protect your feet from injury, that due to a lack of sensation may not be evident. Before you put on your shoes, check for objects like pebbles, rough spots on the inside, or sharp objects pushing up through the soles. Inspect your feet for blisters, cuts or scrapes after physical activities like walking for exercise, shopping, and gardening.

Ask your primary care doctor to check your feet during each visit. Your doctor may notice a foot problem you have missed. If you make it a habit to take your shoes and socks off while you wait for the doctor in the exam room, this will remind him to check your feet.

If you identify foot problems, do not wait to see if they get better on their own. Early treatment is key to healing foot problems and ultimately, saving your feet or toes from amputation. Call your doctor for even minor foot irritations. He or she may refer you to a podiatrist if special treatment is needed. The conditions that you should immediately seek treatment for include changes in skin color or temperature, swelling in the foot or ankle, pain in the legs, blisters or open sores on the feet, ingrown toenails or toenails infected with fungus, corns or calluses, dry cracks in the skin, especially around the heel and unusual and/or persistent foot odor.

I cannot stress enough the importance of preventive care and early treatment. The longer foot problems exist, the more involved, long-term, and potentially limb-threatening the treatment plan.

When properly cared for, feet can last a lifetime.