Diabetic Feet !

To continue from the previous blog regarding the great tendency for uncontrolled diabetes to affect all body parts, this blog will focus more on the effects of diabetes on your feet. We will also teach you ways to ensure you are daily taking the right steps to keep yourself at bay from harm caused by diabetes.

According to a nationally conducted survey, about 86,000 lower limbs (legs and feet) are amputated every year; mainly because these patients had uncontrolled diabetes or they were unaware of their symptoms. When you don’t know, then you can’t do anything about it, right? Well firstly, it is very important to visit your doctor if you or someone you know suffers from any of the symptoms listed in the previous blog or any of the following: family history of diabetes, obesity, being over the age of 40, and or being African American, Native American or Latin American. African Americans are 1.7 times more likely than anyone else to develop diabetes!

Since diabetes is a systemic disease, meaning it incorporates the entire body, the best approach towards it is a professional team approach. In this team approach, the biggest responsibility to limit the number of amputations is the podiatrists. As specialists of the foot and ankle, they are one of the first to notice when things start to turn in the wrong direction and when the disease is on the verge of doing its damage. The key to amputation prevention is frequent checkups and regular foot screenings with your podiatrist.

If you notice the following signs, you should go to your local podiatrist immediately: skin color changes and or increase in temperature, swelling of the foot or ankle, pain in the legs or feet, open sores in the foot which are healing very slowly, ingrown toe nails, fungal toe nails, dry cracked heels and bleeding corns and calluses.

Early detection of these signs is very important for diagnosis and can prevent future amputations. As always, diet and proper exercise are very important to keep a body in balance. Also keep in mind that many times, diabetics are not wearing properly fitted shoes causing them pain in the foot resulting in serious problems such as ulcers and wound healing complications. Your podiatrist will evaluate your feet and the shoes you wear and depending on your foot type and whether you have diabetes or not, will make suggestions regarding the best shoes to wear thus decreasing the chances of further problems.

Look out for the next blog which will talk about the necessary steps needed to be taken ritually if you already have diabetes. And remember, just because you already have diabetes does not mean that there is no hope, there is actually just as much possibility to maintain your daily lifestyle as there is to lose it. So be regular with your checkups and keep learning ways to keep yourself in good health!