Diabetes and Your Feet
December 1, 2020Diabetic patients are extremely vulnerable to foot problems. Typically there is decreased circulation, decreased or absent sensation, loss of function of the small muscles of the foot, and impaired ability to heal. A minor foot problem in a non-diabetic patient can be limb or life threatening in the diabetic patient. Here is an excerpt from The American Diabetes Association Position Statement on Foot Care.
Foot ulcers and other foot problems are a major cause of morbidity, mortality, and disability in people with diabetes. In the presence of neuropathy and/or ischemia, the sequence of minor trauma leading to cutaneous ulceration and wound-healing failure is a frequent cause of lower-extremity amputation in diabetic patients. Once the amputation of one limb has occurred, the prognosis for the contralateral limb is poor. Techniques to prevent amputation range from the simple, but often neglected, foot inspection to complicated vascular surgery.
Diabetes Care, Volume 20, Supplement 1, January 1997, pp. S31-S32.
Diabetic patients should see their podiatrists regularly and conduct daily foot inspections. Please don’t let little problems turn into big ones.