Diabetes and Foot care
What is it?
Diabetes can damage the nerves in your feet, leading to poor blood circulation and increasing your risk of serious complications like foot ulcers. In fact, amputations are 15 times more common in people with diabetes.
This damage is more likely if:
you have had diabetes for a long time
your blood glucose levels have been high for a long time
you smoke, which can cause reduced blood flow to your feet and wounds to heal slowly
you’re not active.
How can diabetes affect your feet?
1. Nerve Damage:
Over time, diabetes may cause nerve damage, also called diabetic neuropathy. Symptoms include:
Numbness, tingling, pins and needles sensation in the feet
Burning pains in the legs and feet, usually more noticeable in bed at night.
These symptoms can result in a loss of sensation in the feet which increases the risk of accidental damage because you can’t feel any pain.
When you lose feeling in your feet, you may not feel a pebble inside your sock or a blister on your foot, which can lead to cuts and sores. Cuts and sores can become infected.
2. Blood Supply:
Diabetes also can lower the amount of blood flow in your feet. Not having enough blood flowing to your legs and feet can make it hard for a sore or an infection to heal.
Signs of poor blood supply include:
Sharp leg cramps after walking short distances or up stairs or hills
Pain in the feet, especially at rest, which resolves with walking or sitting in a dependent position.
Cold feet
Feet turning a dark reddish-blue colour
Cuts and sores which are slow to heal.
Professional checks
Your podiatrist can do easy and painless checks to assess your feet:
blood flow to your feet (circulation)
feeling and reflexes (nerves)
unusual foot shapes (bunions, claw toes, hammer toes)
toenails
dryness, calluses, corns, cracks or infections.
If you have misshapen feet and nerve damage, you’re more likely to get:
ulcers from too much pressure over some areas of the feet
corns and calluses from too much pressure being put on one area.
A podiatrist can remove calluses or corns before they become ulcers to prevent infection and amputation.
Caring for your feet:
Get your feet checked: See your podiatrist at least once a year for a thorough foot exam.
Know your feet well: Wash, dry and check your feet every day. Check for redness, swelling, cuts, pus discharge, splinters or blisters. Take care to look between toes, around heels and nail edges and at the soles of the feet. If you have difficulty with your vision, get someone to check for you.
Cut your toenails straight across: Don’t cut into the corners. Gently file any sharp edges. Ask for help from a podiatrist if you can’t see well or reach your feet.
Moisturize: Do this daily to avoid dry skin.
Never use over-the-counter corn cures: Ask your Podiatrist or GP for advice instead.
Cover your feet: Use a clean sock or stocking without rough seams.
Protect your feet: Wear a shoe that fits well. Make sure it’s the right length – a thumb width longer than your longest toe – width and depth, and check for stones, pins, bunions or anything else DAILY which could cause injury.
Stay cool: Keep your feet away from direct heat such as heaters, hot water bottles and electric blankets.
Get medical advice early: If you notice any changes or problems, see your GP.
What to do if you have an injury:
If you find a cut, blister, sore, red area or open crack, you should immediately:
wash and dry the area
apply a good antiseptic such as Betadine, then
cover with a sterile dressing, available from pharmacies.
If the injury doesn’t improve within 24 hours, make an urgent appointment to see your doctor. It could help you avoid serious complications.
Get urgent medical care for even the mildest foot infection, including:
any sore
an open wound or crack which is oozing and contains pus
any type of discharge that doesn’t heal within a week.