DIABETIC FOOT - WatsonsHealth

DIABETIC FOOT

If you have diabetes, one of the problems that you have to watch out for is diabetic foot. This involves examining your foot every day for wounds along with your blood glucose levels, along with eating a solid and balanced diet, taking recommended medicines, and remaining physically active.

Checking your foot everyday can lessen your odds of having a diabetic foot that may result in serious complications. This includes day by day self-exams and yearly medical assessments.

Appropriate foot care for individuals with diabetes is crucial in general health. One condition that may prompt complications is neuropathy. This is the effect of nerve damage that leads to inability to feel your feet or the other extremities. Neuropathy is common among diabetics since high glucose damages the nerves in the body. Foot issues identified with neuropathy can result in foot wounds that won’t easily heal.

Diabetic foot can result to ulcers with the following grades:

  • Grade 1 ulcers are found on the surface and involve the epidermis or the epidermis and dermis but not the underlying bones or muscles
  • Grade 2 wounds penetrate to the muscles but not to the bone and joints
  • Grade 3 wounds penetrate to the bones and joints

Symptoms:

  • Loss of feeling
  • Numbness or tingling
  • Blisters or other wounds
  • Skin discoloration
  • Skin temperature changes
  • Red streaks
  • Wounds with or without drainage
  • Deformed foot
  • Fever
  • Chills
  • Uncontrollable blood sugar
  • Shaking
  • Shock
  • Redness

DIAGNOSIS

Your doctor will obtain a medical history and do a physical exam. The following tests may be ordered:

  • Complete blood count
  • X-rays of the affected foot
  • Fasting blood sugar
  • HbA1C

 

TREATMENT

Your doctor may refer you to a diabetes specialist or an orthopedic surgeon to give you the best treatment.

If discovered early, diabetic foot conditions may be treated with a cast. These casts can help distribute pressure and weight on the foot and will enable you to keep on walking as you’re being treated.

Your doctor may likewise prescribe braces or specialized shoes to help with your diabetic foot treatment.

More serious diabetic foot ulcers may require surgery. These foot ulcers are treated by evacuation and cleaning of the affected part. Healing can occur within weeks or months.

 

 

 

 

 

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