If you have diabetes, a doctor's first inclination is to tell you to monitor and maintain your blood glucose. While the primary concern for this is to ensure you live a healthy, productive life with your condition, several other health complications can strike a person with diabetes if they are not careful. One of the most significant and common complications is nerve damage due to improper blood glucose maintenance.
The Dangers of Diabetes on Feet
Diabetic foot care is essential if you live with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Diabetes affects your blood glucose levels by raising or lowering them based on food consumption and other dietary factors. This sudden change in blood glucose, also known as blood sugar, can cause nerve damage in your feet as blood vessels travel throughout the body.
This makes diabetic foot care essential as, if nerve damage continues, it can restrict blood flow and cause a foot ulcer. These ulcers can often lead to amputation of toes, feet, or part of your leg, depending on the severity of the infection.
What is Amputation?
Amputation is the medical process of removing body parts to stop an infection from spreading to the rest of your body. For people with diabetes, the loss of nerves can often lead to ailments many Chiropodists cannot repair. A Chiropodist can provide foot care for people with diabetes by screening them for nerve damage and other symptoms to help avoid amputation and other health issues.
The Cause of Total Nerve Loss
It is impossible to pinpoint what causes total nerve loss, but some contributing factors that increase your risk are:
Hard to manage blood sugar levels
Long-term diabetes with improper blood glucose management
Inactivity
Obesity
Being older than 40
Having high blood pressure or cholesterol
Ultimately, these risk factors contribute to poor blood flow, which causes the nerves in your feet not to receive the necessary sustenance they need to continue operating as intended.
Symptoms of Nerve Loss
There are many symptoms of nerve loss in diabetic foot care, including numbness, tingling, and pain. Nerve damage can also lower your ability to feel pain and temperature. If you suddenly feel a loss of sensation in your feet, contact a Chiropodist immediately.
How To Maintain Healthier Feet
Living with diabetes is challenging enough, so you should preserve your feet as much as possible. You should wash your feet daily, never go barefoot, keep blood flowing, and choose feet-friendly activities, as inactivity leads to poor blood flow — which is the ultimate cause of nerve damage.
Most importantly, however, you should visit your Chiropodist regularly and have your feet checked with every medical visit. It's one of many essential steps to ensure diabetic foot care.
Diabetic Foot Specialists
At Qureshy Foot and Orthotics, we specialize in assisting individuals living with diabetes in maintaining, monitoring, and diagnosing foot-related medical concerns. We can deliver quality foot care for diabetics and teach you how to prevent further complications. Contact us if you are curious about our practice or want to schedule an appointment.
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