Diabetic Foot Problems – How they Develop and Ways to Treat Them!

rj frometa Saturday, July 24, 2021 Content Leave a comment

Overview

Foot problems are very common among diabetes patients. Diabetics, who usually have high blood sugar and do not manage it well enough, are more likely to suffer from many foot related problems including diabetic neuropathy and peripheral vascular disease, which can cause serious complications.

As we all know, diabetes is a disease caused due to lack of insulin production in the body or the body’s incapability to regulate insulin properly. Insulin is a very important hormone which helps the cells of the body in absorbing sugar and generate energy.

When the body fails in running this process smoothly, sugar stays in the bloodstream leading to health complications.

If high amounts of sugar remain in the bloodstream for a long time, it may lead to damaged blood vessels causing trouble in various body parts, including feet.

Diabetes has been recognised as a major reason behind people suffering from foot amputations.

Here we would be discussing the foot problems that can be triggered due to improper management of diabetes and how you can effectively manage them.

Major Foot Problems in Diabetics

There are mainly tro foot complications seen in people suffering from diabetes –

Diabetic Neuropathy

As we have already said, improperly managed diabetes can cause nerve damage that can cause numbness in the feet. Due to nerve damage, patients usually find it hard to feel any kind of sensation in their extremities.

This condition also disables the diabetes patient to feel any sort of soreness, irritation or infection on the feet. In fact, they do not even feel the rubbing of their shoes. This inability to feel sensation leads to heightened risk of suffering from cuts, blisters and sores.

If the patient still ignores this issue and does not get a treatment for the infection, they may develop diabetic ulcers and even gangrene. Once a patient develops gangrene, they may require amputation of their infected foot.

Peripheral Vascular Disease

Diabetes causes changes in blood vessels, including arteries. If peripheral vascular disease, the vessels beyond the heart and brain get choked with fatty deposits.

It affects blood vessels responsible for transporting blood to the extremities of the patient, like hands and feet.

As oxygenated blood does not reach to these places of the body, it may cause pain, infection and wounds to heal slower than normal. If this infection gets severe, the doctor may have to go for an amputation of the body part.

Symptoms of Foot Problems in Diabetes

The symptoms of foot problems vary from patient to patient and totally depend upon the condition of the patient. Here, we have mentioned some of the most common symptoms a diabetes patient may experience while being on the verge of developing a foot problem –

Loss of sensation in the affected area
Complete numbness
Tingling sensation
Temperature changes
Blisters without pain
Skin discoloration
Red streaks in the affected area
Multiple wounds
Wounds with drainage
Tingling with pain
Strains on the socks

If the infection has already developed, the patient may also notice the following symptoms –

Fever
Shaking
Redness
Chills
Uncontrollable blood sugar
Shock

If you are a diabetes patient and experiencing any symptoms of an infection, particularly on your hands or feet, you should seek immediate medical attention to rule out the possibility of any severe damage.

Complications Related to Diabetic Foot Problems

The most common diabetic foot problems – diabetic neuropathy and peripheral vascular disease – need to be monitored very closely by a medical practitioner as they both can cause serious complications.

These complications may include –

Non-healing foot ulcers
Gangrene
Non-healing wounds
Skin infections
Foot deformity
Bone infections
Abscesses
Charcot’s foot

In some cases, doctors successfully reverse the complications like infections. In others, like gangrene, the patient may have to suffer from permanent physical damage.

When to See a Doctor?

As per experts, every diabetes patient has to be in regular touch with their doctor to ensure every aspect of their health is well within the controllable limits.

A patient should seek immediate medical attention if he/she experiences any of the following changes –

Change in colour of the skin or feet
Foot swelling
Ankle swelling
Frequent change in temperature of the feet
Non-healing sores on the feet
Foot pain
Ankle pain
Tingling in foot
Tingling in ankle
Ingrown toenail
Athlete’s foot
Any fungal infection on the feet
Super dry skin
Cracking skin
Signs of infection

Treatment of Diabetic Foot Problems

The kind of treatment for diabetic foot problems varies depending upon the condition of the patient. There are a number of surgical and non-surgical treatment methods available which your doctor would decide after analysing your condition. Here we have mentioned a few of them –

Nonsurgical Treatment

After analysing the severity of the condition, the doctor may opt for a non-surgical method. Such methods include –

Cleaning and dressing the wound
Wearing immobilization devices, such as a cast boot or total contact cast
Monitoring closely to check for gangrene on the toes till the time, self-amputation happens, which means the toes fall off due to lack of blood flow

Surgical treatment

When the doctor observes that non-surgical options are not producing the desired results, they may go for surgical methods. These surgical methods include –

Removing decaying or dead tissue
Amputation of single toes, a section of foot or complete amputation of the infected foot
Surgical stabilization of Charcot’s Foot
Arterial bypass to treat peripheral vascular disease, so that the infected body part could get enough blood flow
Endovascular surgery to place stents, which use a small device to keep the blood vessels open

How to Take care of diabetic foot?

If you are suffering from diabetes, it is really essential to keep your feet safe from every type of infection, cuts or sores. Hence, maintaining good foot hygiene becomes extremely critical. Here are the steps you can take to ensure good foot hygiene –

Closely watch your feet daily: Keep checking your feet daily or ask someone to see them daily to spot any type of changes in them.
Wash them daily: Wash your feet daily to ensure they do not catch any infections.
Use supportive shoes and socks: Keep your feet protected with socks and shoes all the time when you are outside. You can also see a podiatrist to get recommendations on special shoes to avoid deformities. Ensure the shoes are not so tight that they hinder the blood flow.
Boost blood flow to the feet: Keep your feet up while sitting, wiggle the toes periodically and get enough exercise, so that the feet get enough blood flow to keep functioning properly.
Carefully trim your nails: Keep your toenails straight across and short. Rounded nails are more susceptible to growing inwards, which may cause infection.
Properly manage corns and bunions: Ensure proper treatment of corns and bunions. Do not ever shave corns as it may cause infection.
Don’t put your feet in extreme temperatures: People with diabetes are at a bigger risk of damaging their feet if they take them into extreme hot or cold conditions.
Get your feet examined regularly: Getting regular checkups done by a doctor eliminates the possibilities of infection, severe deformities and amputation.
Keep blood glucose under control: Unmanaged blood glucose levels enhance the risk of complications in the feet.
Quit smoking: Smoking is known to impact the blood flow to the tissues badly, which can raise foot problems in diabetes patients.

Takeaway

DIabetes puts you at a huge risk of suffering from foot related issues. Hence, you are advised to keep seeing your doctor at regular intervals to ensure that these problems never get severe. You should also ensure to maintain proper foot hygiene to avoid any complications.