Find out how to properly care for your feet to prevent complications.
Diabetes is a chronic health problem that doesn’t just affect your blood sugar levels. It also has a serious impact on many systems and parts of the body. While you may not realize it, diabetes can cause a wide range of serious and potentially dangerous foot problems. The goal of our Burbank, CA, podiatrists is to educate their diabetic patients to protect them from serious health issues.
How Diabetes Affects Feet
If diabetes isn’t properly controlled, having high blood sugar levels could cause severe nerve damage in the feet. It can also affect circulation to the extremities, causing less nutrient-rich blood to flow to your feet. Those with diabetes may find that foot wounds or injuries are slow to heel because of poor circulation. Diabetic are also more likely to develop,
- Foot ulcers
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Nerve damage
Unfortunately, nerve damage and neuropathy can cause a loss of sensation in your feet. If you can’t feel your feet you’re also prone to injuries that you may not even realize you’ve incurred. Diabetic foot ulcers occur in as many as 15 percent of those with diabetes, and about 6 percent of those people will be hospitalization with an infection.
How to Prevent Foot-related Complications
Luckily, there are ways to prevent these problems from happening to you. After all, our podiatrist works with many people in Burbank, CA, who have diabetes, providing them with individualized treatment plans and consistent care. Of course, there are also some habits you can adopt now to prevent problems from happening and to ensure that if something does happen that you detect it early and seek immediate care.
These habits include,
- Wash feet every day with warm water (always dry them thoroughly afterward)
- Always wear shoes and socks, even indoors (never go barefoot)
- Make sure you wear supportive and properly fitted shoes that aren’t too tight
- Know how to properly trim your toenails or, if you don’t know how, turn to your podiatrist to get your nails trimmed
- Perform self-exams on your feet to look for everything from redness and swelling to calluses and sores
- Don’t treat any foot problems by yourself; always turn to a medical professional
- Monitor your blood sugar levels and take your medication exactly as directed
- Visit your podiatrist regularly for routine check-ups
If you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes it’s important that you have a podiatrist that you can turn to for both regular checkups and emergency care when you need it. The podiatric team at Los Angeles Institute of Foot and Ankle Surgery in Burbank, Northridge, and Santa Clarita, CA, can provide you with personalized diabetic foot care. Call us today at (818) 848-5588 to learn more.