The Importance of Proper Diabetic Foot Care

The Importance of Proper Diabetic Foot Care

According to the CDC more than 122 million Americans suffer from diabetes or prediabetes. About half of all people with diabetes have some kind of nerve damage, called diabetic neuropathy. You can have nerve damage in any part of your body, but nerves in your feet and legs are most often affected. If you have nerve damage in your feet, you may not be able to feel your feet normally. This is why it is very important that you practice daily foot care. Wash your feet daily, check for wounds, and get your feet checked regularly by Dr. Joseph E. Mechanik at the Colorado Foot Institute in Centennial, CO.

How diabetes affects your feet

Nerve damage can cause numbness, tingling, or pain, or it can make you lose feeling in your feet. Pain is the body’s way of telling you something is wrong. If you don’t feel pain, you may not notice a small injury which then can become infected and serious. Diabetes also lowers blood flow in your feet. This can make it hard for sores or infections to heal.
Since diabetes can be extremely dangerous to your feet, remember, prevention is the key!

What you can do to keep your feet healthy

• Check your feet every day for cuts, redness, swelling, sores, blisters, corns, calluses, or any other change to the skin or nails.
• Wash your feet daily in warm water
• Wear shoes that fit well and socks at all times
• Trim your toenails
• Remove corns or calluses very gently
• Protect your feet from hot and cold
• Keep the blood flowing to your feet
• Get your feet checked at every health care visit
• Visit Dr. Mechanik at the Colorado Foot Institute in Centennial, CO, regularly for a complete exam.

You can avoid serious problems such as losing a toe, foot, or leg by following proper prevention techniques offered by Dr. Joseph E. Mechanik at the Colorado Foot Institute in Centennial, CO. Call today at (303) 333-3383 to schedule a diabetic foot care examination and let us help you keep your feet in good shape!