Diabetic Foot Care Tips From a Health Professional Part 1

Welcome to the finale of this series discussing Diabetes and its effects on the feet. These next two blog posts will discuss how you can take care of your feet if you are Diabetic, or you know someone who mat be experiencing Diabetes, regardless of the Type of Diabetes present.

1 Don’t walk around barefoot

Prevent potential issues by not walking barefoot on surfaces

This may seem a bit draconian but there’s a reason why Podiatrists such as myself mention this to Diabetic patients. Diabetics generally, are at an increased risk of developing a foot ulcer. This is due to several reasons including Diabetes’ general immunosuppressive nature, malfunctioning components of the body and PN. Regardless of whether PN is present or not, if there is debris (e.g a small stone) on the ground and you as a Diabetic step on it, not only would you not be able to detect it (as Diabetes generally can slowly causes de-sensitivity) but also, if your not one to check your feet daily, that little bruise/cut on the foot can form an ulcer within a relatively short period of time- I vividly remember treating a Diabetic patient who developed an ulcer due to stepping on a nail! The patient couldn’t feel anything due to PN.

2 Check your feet daily

Since Diabetics have a higher likelihood of developing ulceration, it’s important to check your feet daily for any cuts, scraps, dodgy colour changes (e.g skin/wound turns black/dark brown and it isn’t necessarily due to dried blood) and cracked skin (Fissures). For fissures, try using Bee Propolis Cream and Aloe Gelly in the Store to aid the healing process. These lesions can all lead to an ulcer if not noticed and reported to a Podiatrist. Which leads me on to the next tip…

3 Maintain good foot hygiene

It’s important as a Diabetic to maintain good foot hygiene, the main reason why is to reduce the likelihood of infection occurring. I’ve summarised last month’s article on the basics of good foot care:

Wash your feet DAILY
Dry the feet THOROUGHLY
Moisturising the feet is a MUST

View the blog post here. Note: in the article I also talk about sunbathing but a Diabetic should AVOID sunbathing the feet all together!

So there you have it- 3 good tips on diabetic foot care, for you or someone you know who’s Diabetic. With these steps, you now have the knowledge on some of the ways to maintain the changes Diabetes can bring.

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